


恋の予感 | 𝑭𝑹𝑬𝑬!

by cynicaljapanophile



Series: 幼なじみ | childhood friends [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, Drama, F/M, Female Reader, Humor, Male-Female Friendship, Original Character(s), Reader-Insert, Reverse Harem, Romance, Slow To Update
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-01-02 06:04:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 48
Words: 147,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21156827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cynicaljapanophile/pseuds/cynicaljapanophile
Summary: [𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬! 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦! 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫]❝ 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. ❞𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 [𝘺/𝘯] [𝘭/𝘯] 𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳.





	1. 大好き

**大好き**

**𝑫𝑨𝑰𝑺𝑼𝑲𝑰**

**______________________________**

**"𝑰 𝑳𝑰𝑲𝑬 𝒀𝑶𝑼."**

**__________________________________________________________**

𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘪 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨

𝘪 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘪 𝘤𝘢𝘯

𝘪 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦

𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴

𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯

𝘪 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴

𝘪 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘪 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪'𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱

𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦

𝘪 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘪'𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩

𝘪'𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴

𝘪 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬

𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘪 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺

𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘩é 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘬𝘦𝘺

𝘪 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪'𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪'𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶

𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦

𝘪 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧

𝘪 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨

\- 𝙪 𝙡 𝙩 𝙞 𝙢 𝙖 𝙩 𝙚 𝙡 𝙮, 𝙠 𝙝 𝙖 𝙞 𝙙 𝙧 𝙚 𝙖 𝙢 𝙨


	2. 𝑶𝑵𝑬 | 𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑹𝑻

**BEEP BEEP**

The sound of the alarm buzzing echoed throughout the silent room before stopping when a lazy hand grabbed it.

Covering the glowing alarm clock with your hand, muffling the beeping as it continued to go off. 

While you tried your best to muffle the beeping noise that woke you up, all you could do was close your eyes as you covered your head with a pillow. 

A few more minutes passed with the annoying beeping going off under the weird of your pillow leaving you to just open your eyes already. 

Raising it above your head you stared at the blinking red number for a few seconds before turning it off and slamming it back down on the nightstand beside your bed. 

In your sleepy state, you threw your legs off of your bed and onto the cold wooden floor causing you to hiss upon coming in contact with the freezing floor.

Despite your initial surprise at the cold surface, you quickly zoned off, staring forward without really seeing anything for a few more minutes until your brought your hands up, facing your open palms towards your cheeks before harshly hitting your cheeks in an attempt to wake up. 

Of course, this attempt to wake yourself up resulted with little to no success and only caused you to wince as red imprints of your hands began to glow on your cheeks. 

You groaned to yourself as you fell backwards onto your bed and closed your eyes with a long and exaggerated sigh. A few more seconds passed before you decided to finally wake up. 

“Time to get ready” 

* * *

You turned to stare at yourself in the mirror frowning until forming a smile that you quickly dropped deciding to frown again.

Groaning, you turned away and in your less than stellar mode walked out of the bathroom. Your footsteps volume was telling of how tired you really were.

Patting down your hair, which only caused it to get even messier, you looked around your room, eyes moving to every corner and crevice that it could explore.

Finally your eyes laid on what you were looking for, your eyes spot a familiar black bad slumped over on it's side a few feet away from your bed under your desk. 

Walking over to it you bent down and crawled under the desk, coughing and covering your mouth from dust that fell in your face making you hurry to escape the small area. 

You brushed your hands over your face and hair, trying to get off as much dust as you could with your hands, though all it did was make things worse as you sneezed. 

There wasn't much time for you to stay and wash up again if you wanted to stay on your usual schedule that you were more than used and accustomed to. 

Dusting off the bag and getting off as many particles as you could you threw it over your shoulder, straightening the fabric beneath it with a sigh. 

Heaving out a deep sigh you made your way to the door but not before your eyes trailed off from your path, falling onto a familiar picture that you barely looked at anymore. 

You and four familiar boys, [e/c] lingering on someone that you were more than sure that would probably never see again, especially with your encounter. 

Was there even a reason in your keeping the photo anymore?

It wasn't as if you looked at it every day or every now and then, you'd be lucky if you even laid eyes on it once a month. The picture was a nice memory, there wasn't anything bad detached to it.

Nothing bad had happened to anyone in the picture, well, at least not in a physical sense.

Maybe you just kept it for the sentimental value that it held, it wasn't like you were going to have a 'moment' like that ever again, especially with them. 

But then again the only thing you ever felt on the rare occasion that you did turn your attention to it the main emotion you could feel was regret and a sense of sadness that would quickly overwhelm you, making you forget about any positive emotions you'd feel when looking at it. 

A deep sigh left your lips once more as you furrowed your brows and tightened the grip on the handle of your bookbag, the handle's plastic material digging into your skin as you continued to ignore it. 

You turned away and brought both of your hands up to your face and slapped your cheeks harshly leaving a glowing red handprint. 

There was nothing more you could do other than push away all of those thoughts from your minds. 

Nothing you were thinking about would do anything well, at least, not for you. 

Even if you were interested in bringing back anything as dead as what was in that picture you're sure it would just bring more confusion and stress into your life than any good. 

It's how everything works.

The past is the past and no matter what you tried to do nothing would ever change that, you could go back in time and you're sure the memory would still be something that you'd hate to revisit.

And that was something you were sure of.


	3. 𝑻𝑾𝑶 | 𝑺𝑨𝑴𝑬 𝑶𝑳𝑫, 𝑺𝑨𝑴𝑬 𝑶𝑳𝑫

The day had finally begun, even if you wanted to go back in and sleep in for a few more hours. 

You groaned as you brushed the back of your head, messing the back of your hair. 

Kenji and Akihito did warn you that it was a bad idea to stay up and pull another all-nighter studying without any breaks, especially when it was the day before you went back to school. 

But like always, you made the less than smart decision to not listen to them in favour of staying up for a little while longer to get a few more minutes of studying in which turned into a few hours. 

Taking a step off of the porch and onto the grass you winched, bringing a hand up to your face in a failed attempt to block the bright rays of the sun from getting in your eyes. 

_'Ugh...'_

It was too sunny for you. 

Why did the sun always have to be so bright?

Heaving out a deep sigh and closing your eyes for a second you took another pulled on your bookbag, bringing it higher on your shoulder. 

You tuned out the sounds of everything around you with every step that you took, your eyes wandering, looking at your surroundings. 

Everything seemed to be the same. 

From the building to the people, nothing looked that different.

_'Iwatobi really hasn't changed, has it?'_

You swung your arms out before bringing them up, holding them behind your neck, a tired expression finding it's way to your face. 

Looking down, a small blur of orange and white appeared from the corner of your eye. 

Curious, you halted in your stride, taking your bag off of your shoulder and bringing it up, squinting as you looked at the small keychain hanging from its strap. 

Even looking at it brought up memories, it was an old keychain that you picked out when you first joined the now-defunct swim club, the colours were fading from age but you still couldn't bring yourself to throw it away. 

You threw the bag back by its strap, letting it fall right back onto your shoulder as you inclined your head. 

"Boys stress me out."

There was little to no point in going back and thinking about old memories that didn't have any effect on anything that going to happen in the present so you might as well just forget about it. 

Despite your thoughts that was something that you still couldn't bring yourself to forget. 

Even with everything that happened, all those memories from that one time seemed to refuse to leave your mind and the fact that things have changed so much seemed to make those memories have an undertone of sadness. 

You shook your head from side to side with your eyes shut tightly then brought your hands up to each side of your face, slapping your face. 

It was an attempt to get your mind on such a gloomy subject, sure, there was always something else that you could do but it was still something. 

_'Ow... That was really a bad idea.'_

Your cheeks began to glow a bright red as the imprints of your hands began to show on your cheeks, making you groan as you attempted to soothe the stinging pain on your cheeks. 

"Is there a reason as to why you're hitting yourself in public, first thing in the morning?"

_'Ugh... It's him.'_

The person that you were the least interested in of course had to show up after you did something that made you look stupid. 

Furrowing your brows, you looked over your shoulder to see two taller boys, one giving you a small smile and wave and the other arching a brow at you. 

Turning on your heel, you looked the brunette up and down with a less than impressed look. "Is there a reason why you're here?"

"Well, I just assumed we were going to meet up again considering the fact that we've walked to school together for six years now." 

You took a step forward, narrowing your eyes and shooting a sharp glare his way that returned back at you as he looked down at you. 

"**Well, **I was just under the assumption that you'd go ahead of me when I didn't show up the moment we were supposed to meet up."

It was way too early for you to get mad but Kenji always seemed to be able to get you upset without even trying, it was as if he had a natural talent for annoying you. 

"I-"

That was when the taller teen standing next to the shorter male cut in, stepping in between the two of you, putting a hand on his and your shoulders as he gently pushed the two of you away from each other. 

He nervously laughed softly, shooting the two of you a nervous smile. "Now, now, that's enough, the day's only just started."

You dropped your shoulders and looked away as you let out a puff of air. "Fine." Crossing your arms across each other you stomped a few feet away. 

Watching with a smile as you turned away from them in a huff the taller teen nodded his head for a few seconds before immediately turning his head to look at the brunette, an avoid expression taking over the former faux smile. 

The sudden change caused him to jump slightly, his shoulders stiffening. "Hey, Akihito-"

"Don't 'Akihito' me!" He whisper yelled before pausing to look over his shoulders to make sure he wasn't caught by you. Thankfully you were still pouting a few feet away not paying an attention to the two, tapping your feet impatiently as you waited for them to finish with their conversation. 

He sighed in relief. 

Almost instantaneously he whipped his head back to face the still frozen teen who was looking at him with a confused expression. " Don't start anything this early, especially when the year has barely just started."

The brunette's eye twitched. 

His reaction didn't make him back down as he returned his stare with his own. 

While he was usually passive and calm compared to the two of you there were some things that he would let slide and that was dealing with the two of you arguing with each other this early in the morning. 

"She's the only who started."

His eye twitched. 

"Aren't you the one that was all mopy last night because the two of you got into another argument?"

"Hngh!"

"That's what I thought, now please try your best to not argue with her."

A few more seconds of the two teens engaging in a staring passed by before the brunette turned away in defeat. "Fine. I'll try my best not to start anything."

Akihito sighed in relief, patting the brunette's shoulder and shooting him a small smile as if he didn't unintentionally threaten him a few seconds earlier. "That's nice to hear Ken-kun."

Kenji's eye twitched.

He was truly terrifying. 

"Will you idiots hurry up already?"

The taller teen looked over his shoulder, flashing you his usual smile. "We're coming!"

You sighed. 

Kicking at the gravel under your feet you brought your hands to the back of your head and inclined your head up, squinting at the rays of the sun that got into your eyes. 

Muttering words under your breath that you were sure nobody could hear. 

"Boys are always so annoying..."

* * *

_A young girl around six years old listened in to the conversation between the two boys, one of them failing with his attempts to keep a conversation going with the other._

_With your heads in your palms, you rolled your eyes and let out a deep sigh, jumping off mid-swing causing you to stumble with every step as you attempted to find your balance as you made your way to the two. _

_Things weren't going the best. _

_You and the brunette had planned to try and convince the less than enthusiastic boy to join the swimming club after you had convinced or more accurately forced the brunette to visit the pool. _

_After school had ended you and Makoto had teamed up and convinced, though he would say dragged, the monotone boy to the park. _

_But as things were going none of the attempts made by you or the brunette have been successful in slightest, they were all shut down immediately._

_Crouching down, you grabbed the side of the slide that he was sitting on, looking at him with a starry-eyed gaze. "Mako-chan's right Haru-chan! I've only been a member of the swimming club for a few weeks but it's been really fun so far and it'll be even more fun if you join!"_

_You flashed him a wide smile, barely being able to contain your excitement any longer. _

_Haru stared at you blankly. _

_"Considering how you act normally, I don't think I can handle you when you're having fun in the water."_

_Eyes widening, you looked at him in shock as you puffed up your cheeks, taking offence by his rather blunt and stoic response. _

_"What's that supposed to mean Haru-chan?!"_

_Not even daring to look up at you he continued on with another response. "What I'm saying is that you're already way too energetic and annoying when you're acting 'normal' but you being in the water would be too much for me to handle.' _

_He didn't finish his words while looking at you instead deciding to turn his attention onto the brunette. _

_Your cheeks turned red in response to his rude but not usual response. _

_"That was mean Haru-chan, you didn't have to say it like that!"_

_The blue-eyed boy didn't even bat an eye at your offended tone, choosing instead to replay to Makoto's early comment from before you joined the two by the slide. _

_"I don't know why you're so set about me joining the swim club, after all, it's not like me not joining is stopping you from joining."_

_Makoto frowned at the words. _

_"That doesn't matter, we're friends, what's the point of joining if you won't be there?"_

_A soft, barely audible gasp left Haru before he quickly returned to his less than impressed demeanor, shooting the two of you a bored look. He let out a soft sigh and glanced back down at his feet before standing up causing the two of you to follow suit, getting up from your crouch. _

_"I still don't know, it just isn't something that I'm that interested in."_

_You looked up and saw Makoto's eyes droop slightly as he frowned slightly, glancing down at his feet but before he could say a single word you cut in, grabbing Haru's hands and looking him eye to eye. _

_Shooting him a smile, you ignored the look he was giving you. _

_"C'mon Haru chan, it'll be a lot of fun, I promise!"_

_He looked at you with a faint blush painting his cheeks before turning back to look at Makoto who also shoot him a smile, it was impossible from him to escape from it. _

_This was it, wasn't it?_

_The shorter boy sighed in defeat. _

_He blew at the hair that fell in front of his eyes. "Fine, if it'll stop you guys from asking me," he looked away from you as the smiles on your faces grew. "I guess I'll check it out."_

_"**Really Haru?!" **You and Makoto asked in unison, exchanging looks of pure disbelief and then excitement. _

_"Yes, really, now [Y/N[, can you please let go of my hands? Your grip is a bit too tight."_

_Hearing his words you looked down at your hands and saw that you still hadn't let go of his hands, you quickly let go and began to hurl multiple apologies within only a few seconds before being stopped. Haru's hand stopped you from bowing again as he flicked your forehead. _

_"It's alright [Y/N], really, can you just please stop apologizing?"_

_"I'm sorr- Uh, I mean alright Haru-chan," you said with a nervous smile before turning to give the brunette two thumbs up, a large smile on your face not even trying to withhold your excitement._

* * *

"Don't forget the meeting to discuss our plans for this quarter will be starting a few minutes earlier than usual so try not to show up too late."

"Well, I don't think-"

You cut into the brunette's words, "Don't worry Naru-chan, we'll be there on time."

Said girl gave you a thankful smile as she turned on her heels, waving goodbye to the two of you after a few more goodbyes leaving the three of you behind. 

Kenji narrowed his eyes at you. "We still have to-"

You turned to the taller boy with a tired expression dressing your face, your eyes blank, you did not want to deal with him any longer. "-Harrass even more first-years to join the club once again and cause them to just get scared and warn even more of their friends."

That left him speechless. 

A soft left your lips. "That's what I thought, I don't have a problem with trying to recruit more people but don't act like we're going to get a bunch of people."

His eye twitched for a second before giving up on the onesided staring contest, sinking into his chair as a solemn expression fell over him. "Way to knock me down [Y/N]."

"That's what I'm here for."


	4. 𝑻𝑯𝑹𝑬𝑬 | 𝑨 𝑻𝑬𝑫𝑰𝑶𝑼𝑺 𝑺𝑪𝑯𝑶𝑶𝑳 𝑫𝑨𝒀

𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝙎𝙊𝙈𝙀 𝙍𝙀𝘼𝙎𝙊𝙉 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙁𝙊𝙐𝙉𝘿 𝙈𝙊𝙍𝙀 𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙀𝙍𝙏𝘼𝙄𝙉𝙈𝙀𝙉𝙏 𝙄𝙉 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙂𝙍𝘼𝙄𝙉𝙔 𝙒𝙃𝙄𝙏𝙀 𝘾𝙀𝙄𝙇𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙉 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝘿𝙄𝘿 𝙁𝙍𝙊𝙈 𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙍 𝙉𝙀𝙒 𝙃𝙊𝙈𝙀𝙍𝙊𝙊𝙈 𝙏𝙀𝘼𝘾𝙃𝙀𝙍.

It didn't take too long for the three of you to get to school, getting to class fifteen minutes early even with the small breaks and stops that you made on your way. 

As soon as your new teacher walked into the class everyone took their seats, trying to quiet down though it was obvious they weren't trying that hard from the whispered conversations around the room. 

In only a matter of minutes until everyone faded into the background leaving you with only your thoughts to keep your head occupied.

Turning your head up [E/C] eyes stared distantly at the white ceiling above you as you thought about everything from club meetings to eating dinner. 

Your mind went back and forth between things causing you to barely take in anything that going around you including the feeling of a pair of green eyes gazing at you from behind. 

A deep sigh left your lips. 

_'Things here are always so boring...'_

You shoulders drooped as a dejected expression spread across your face replacing the bored expression that was there only a few seconds before. 

** _'I miss Tokyo but..'_ **

**Someone that you didn't want to even think of popped into your mind at just the mere thought of Tokyo, it was as if your brain didn't want you to forget things and stay gloomy all year.**

**You buried your head into your arms on your desk and let out a muffled groan, careful as to not alert anyone around you. **

**Of all the times you could've thought of him you just had to think of him now, you were already annoyed and the thought of him didn’t help the fact. **

**Shaking your head you slapped your cheeks and squeezed your eyes shut tight.**

** _‘He’s not important anymore [Y/N], there’s no need to think about him. Yeah, he was just a stupid jerk who didn’t have the decency to break up with you in purpose.’ _ **

**Your eyes drooped. **

**No matter how hard you tried to couldn’t help but think of him and those deep teal eyes that you couldn’t seem to forget.**

**Heaving out a deep sigh you leaned back into your seat and inclined your head to look up at the ceiling, shutting your eyes shut tightly.**

**All that on your mind was someone that you're sure couldn't care less about you and probably had forgotten about you as soon as things ended. **

Stuck in your thoughts, you failed to notice green eyes staring at you lazy form.

* * *

Looking down at your desk, you twirled your pencil between your fingers as you listened to your new homeroom teacher call out names for roll call. 

"Mr. Todakoro Junichi."

"Here."

With your hand propped up onto your desk, you leaned your head into it, staring at the young woman who had introduced herself as Ms. Amakata, your new homeroom teacher. 

You weren't exactly sure what it was but there was definitely something familiar about her, it was on the tip of your tongue. 

Who was she?

"Hmm..."

Oh!

That was it, wasn't it?

You sat up in your seat with a bit more pep than before.

_She was a model, right? _

"Ms. Tezuka Kaori."

"Here."

Upon saying that you lost in pep gained from figuring that out, slouching in your seat as you leaned forward, burying your face in your palms.

_Ugh, I'm not sure exactly how I feel about being taught by a former model who probably became a teacher as a backup plan after things didn't work out._

"Ms. [L/N] [Y/N]."

You looked up from your desk and halted in the spinning of your pencil, "Over here." you said as you lazily raised your right hand in response. 

"Uhm..."

It looked as if she wasn't sure how to pronounce the name that she was stuck on, looking around the room for whoever's name she was stuck on before finally saying it.

"Ms. Nanase Haruka."

You stifled your laughter. 

"Uh, Miss? Haruka's a guy." 

The classroom erupted in laughter at Makoto's correction, looking back at the two students. 

It caused you to let out a small chuckle. 

"Oh, you're right!"

Even if the start of the day wasn't exactly the best at least there was still something that somehow still managed to get you to laugh every single time. 

Sure, it was a bit immature but who cares. 

* * *

Everything was just as you expected it to be, it was just a normal, boring school day with little to nothing interesting happening other than getting to know your new homeroom teacher with a few friends and a few starstruck first years.

"So, did you get to talk with your boyfriends?"

What?

You choked on your food at the sudden question by the taller teen, it was certainly not something that you had expected to hear from him, especially when you were in the middle of eating. 

it was completely out of nowhere and it was definitely not something that you appreciated, not that you could really say anything considering the fact that you were choking on your food. 

Pounding on your chest with your fist you stared down at the floor, not sure if you were upset, surprised, embarrassed or all of the above. 

Why did he have to be that blunt?

"[Y/N] are you okay?!"

Akihito stood up from his seat ran over to you, sitting down next to you almost immediately, passing you his flask of water, he was even more worried about things than you were yourself and you were the one on the verge of death, his words, not yours.

In only a matter of seconds, you grabbed the flask and chugged down the cold water, not caring if anything fell on your clothes. 

Roughly handing it back you whipped your head to the side to face the brunette, shooting him a sharp glare that stabbed daggers into his form. 

"Just what was that Kenji?" 

You questioned him, showing no signs of giving up on the glare you were sending his way. 

The expression on your face caused the brunette to frantically wave his hands in front of his face, a nervous expression was present on his face. 

It was clear to him that you weren't in the mood. 

"E-easy there [Y/N], I was just joking, really."

He tried his very best to assure you and your concerns, not wanting to be on the receiving end of your wrath. 

You looked back at him with narrowed your eyes, staring back for a few more seconds before giving up, looking away with a huff. 

"Whatever."

You were already annoyed with him from this morning and he wasn't really helping matters with his teasing, "Anyways, did you get any more club applications?"

Silence.

A sigh left your lips. 

Of course, why weren't you surprised?

The two boys sighed in response to your question, their shoulders slumping unison with Kenji leaning his head on the taller boy shoulders. "Nope, absolutely nothing," Kenji just closed his eyes and let out a whining noise. 

You turned to look at Akihito, you were still holding at least some hope to hear some good news about the club though you were sure that there was no one else joining.

Akihito didn't even dare to look up at you as he gave you the bad news. "We not only haven't gotten any new members but we've also received two more resignations." 

He heaved out a deep sigh. "I'm not sure what we're going to do. Nine people resigned already and only four people are joining and that was only because we wouldn't stop bothering them after the entrance ceremony ended."

Waiting a few seconds he looked up at you. "I mean at this rate the club's gonna be gone by the time we're in our third year."

It was a hard thing to hear but it was the truth, ever since you've joined the club as the manager all you've gotten was complaints from members and their eventual resignation forms.

You really thought that this was going to be the year for the volleyball club. 

Akihito looked at the ground and kicked at the grass beneath him, all he could think to do was continue with his moping, not stopping with his thoughts about the club's decline. 

You were able to hold it back any longer, you frowned and leaned your head onto the taller teen shoulder as well to join the two in their moping over the current state of the club 

"It's not like I can really blame anyone that doesn't want to be a member anymore or doesn't want to join, after all, we lost almost every single game that we have."

All three of you sighed deeply in unison. 

You groaned under your breath before standing up from the bench, looking over your shoulder at the two. 

"I'll be back, all this depressing news is making me thirsty."

"Kay."

"Just don't be surprised if all of your food is completely gone when you get back here."

You left, ignoring the brunette's comments. 

* * *

The sound of the 100 yen coin move around in the vending machine reached your ears, it was as noisy as ever but you guessed a school like Iwatobi couldn't really afford something like a new vending machine. 

Finally, after kicking the machine a few times you heard the sound of your drink fall, you crouched down, pushing your hand past the flap of the machine to grab the cold can of milk tea. 

Just as you stood up with your drink you took a pause as you moved to get back to your group, hearing a familiar voice call out your name.

Standing up straight, you looked over your shoulders before turning around in the direction of the yelling. 

You raised your hands above your eyes and squint, focusing directly in front of you to see who was yelling out your name. It was nearly impossible to find out who it was until the yelling got closer and closer. 

"[N/N]!"

You didn't see much other than a blur of strawberry blonde hair, before you could process a single thing you felt arms wrap around you tightly. 

Whoever was hugging you pulled away, allowing you to finally view said person.

"N-Nagisa?" 

"Long time no see [N/N]."

You jokingly narrowed your eyes and gave him a tired look, bringing two fingers up and flicking his forehead. 

"Ow!"

"Just what do you mean 'long time no see'? I literally just saw you last week."

He laughed in response, scratching the back of his head with his right hand. "I know, I know, I just thought I'd sound a lot cooler if I said that."

You sighed at his response before cracking a smile at him. 

Of course, why were you at all surprised at his words?

"Hey, [N/N], do you kno-"

Before Nagisa could ask his question he was interrupted by another familiar voice. 

"Oi! [Y/N], hurry up, the literature club's having an emergency meeting in a few minutes!"

You flinched slightly at how loud his voice had to be, it was a miracle how his throat never hurt with all the yelling that he did. 

"Sorry about that Kenji, I'll be right there!" You yelled back to him as you looked over your shoulder, quickly turning back at the taller male, giving him an apologetic smile before running back to the brunette. 

"Real sorry 'bout that Nagisa! Talk to you later!"

* * *

The sound of shoes squeaking across the floor and shouting filled your ears, it was surprising relaxing to you. 

You watched the two boys that accompanied you to lunch practice as you cleaned volleyballs in peace until you heard a comment from an annoying brunette. 

"Wow, you sure look like you're in a hurry, huh? You're really desperate to meet them, aren't you?

Your eye twitched at his words. 

Standing up, you dropped the rag in your hands and tightened your grip around the volleyball, walking over to the tall brunette, looking up at him with a teasing grin that was paired with a glare.

Akihito raised his hands and gave the two of you his usual soft smile. "Easy there you two, there's no need to get out of hand, now, is there?"

Before Kenji could say anything more you took a deep breath and without saying a single word you roughly shoved the ball into his stomach causing him to groan and fall to the floor in pain as he grabbed his stomach. 

"Ugh..."

The black-haired boy crouched down to eye level with his friend and gave him a blank stare. "I've told you a million times to stop teasing her about that. 

He then gently grabbed his friend's shoulder, looking him eye to eye. "No offence," he paused for a few seconds, "But you kind of deserved that."

Kenji looked at his friend in shock.

"You're such a traitor!"

"And you're such an idiot."

They were the same as usual, you had no idea what to think about the two. 

Akihito stood up from his knees and gave you a smile. "Anyways, [Y/N], you can go now, we can take care of things."

"Really?"

"Yup, don't worry about it,"

Taking a deep breath you made your way to the gym doors and looked over your shoulder before leaving. "Make sure to put everything away!"

"We will, don't worry 'bout it [Y/N]!"


	5. 𝑭𝑶𝑼𝑹 | 𝑰𝑵𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑬𝑺𝑻𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑽𝑬𝑹𝑺𝑨𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵𝑺

𝙒𝙊𝙒, 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙒𝙀𝙍𝙀 𝙍𝙀𝘼𝙇𝙇𝙔 𝙊𝙐𝙏 𝙊𝙁 𝙎𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙀.

I mean, sure, you've stopped really being a seriously athletic person but you still didn't expect to lose your breath after only running for a few minutes. 

You ran as fast as you could in your attempt to catch up with the three boys that you were haven't been able to find together in a while. 

With every step that you took, you could feel your chest tighten and your breathes hitch. 

This was too much for you, it would have a much better idea to just stay at practice and continue on with your work as the manager but nope, you had to make the decision to try and approach the small group.

Did you even know what you were going to say or do the moment you actually reached them?

That to say if you were even able to catch up with them as you ran as fast as you could, though that isn't really saying much. 

After forcing yourself to take a few more steps you halted in your steps, your breathing was heavier than you ever thought it was possible to be. 

You tried to catch your breath, hands on your knees as you leaned up against a wall, taking a minute to yourself to rest and calm your frantic breathing. 

Despite not having much of finding any of them, you began to look around once again for the three boys that were indirectly responsible for your exhaustion. 

This probably wasn't the best idea that you had. 

I mean, sure, you definitely wanted to speak to them, after speaking with your aunt she made the suggestion that you clear things up if you wanted to get rid of unbearable weight on your shoulders. 

But there was a part of you that really made you question if it was something you should even do, there was still the chance that they weren't interested in talking to you. 

Well, at least you were sure that Haru wouldn't want to talk to you and if you're being honest, after everything that has happened between the two of you it wouldn't surprise if he didn't want to talk to you. 

You were eventual slowed down, feeling a bit more stupid than you were already feeling. 

_'School ended a long time ago, they're probably long gone by now...'_

Just what even was the point in putting so much effort into looking for them?

Slapping your cheeks, you stretched, raising your hands having made the decision to just stop with your search for the three after your lack of success in your search. 

You turned on your heels, getting ready to leave when you were stopped mid-stride by the sound of three familiar voices in the middle of a conversation. 

Were they actually here?

Yes!

There was actually a chance of you being able to talk to them. 

Any signs of pessimism or gloom that showered over your head disappeared into thin air. 

In your excitement, you ran up to them, ignoring the pain you were feeling from your tired legs but at the moment you didn't really care that much. 

"Hey!"

The three swimmers stopped, putting a pause into their conversation as they looked over their shoulder back at you, seeing you stop in front of them, placing your hands on your knees as you catch your breath. 

"[Y/N], are you okay?" Makoto asked in concern as he took a step forward. 

Taking one more breath you looked up at the much taller teen and gave him a smile. "Y-Yes, sorry 'bout that Mako, I was just really excited when I saw the three of you."

Makoto blinked. 

"Really?"

It was surprising to him that you would've been excited to the point of running so much to the point of needing to catch your breath solely to catch up with them.

Standing on your tiptoes, you looked up at him and flashed him a small smile. "Yup!"

The next few minutes consisted of you, Makoto and Nagisa catching up as all four of you made your way to Haru's place, things weren't as difficult as you had made them out to be. 

If things were this easy you would've tried making up with them ages ago rather than acting as if they didn't exist and trying your very best to ignore them. 

But despite those positive thoughts, there was still a part of you that still couldn't help but go back to those negative thoughts that you shoved to the back of your mind.

Haru didn't say a single word to you the entire time and every time you looked at him, he wouldn't look away, it was as if he didn't want to be a close to you as he was. 

You let out a soft sigh as you looked down with your feet. 

_'Things are going to be annoying, aren't they?'_

Without even thinking you looked up from the ground and turned your head to look at the stoic teen, freezing as your body stiffens and eyes widen. 

Your eyes lock with his for a split second before he tears away, acting as if nothing just happened between the two of you, he left you behind as you stared at his back. 

Of course, why weren't you surprised something like this happened?

You furrowed your eyebrows and twisted your fingers between each other. 

If there was anything that you weren't looking forward to the most it definitely had to be simply speaking to Haru. 

"[N/N]? Are you coming?"

"Right, sorry, I'm coming!"

* * *

Your eye twitched. 

Were they complete idiots?

Because that was basically what you were getting from them after hearing what their plans for the rest of the night were.

"Are you actually going to the old SC, are you idiots or something?"

Taking a deep breath you looked at Nagisa, getting rid of the incredulous look on your face and replacing it with an awkward smile. "I don't mean to be rude or anything like that Nagisa, but isn't that kind of, y'know, against the law? Like, you are trespassing on private property, right?"

Nagisa blinked before smirking in response, putting a hand under his chin as he responded back to you. "Exactly, that exactly why we have to sneak under the cover of the darkness."

You nervous laughed as you looked at Nagisa, he seemed to be quite enthusiastic about his, in your opinion, less than stellar idea. 

There had to be someone else that disagreed with his plan, I mean, Makoto definitely had to be on your side and tell Nagisa that it wasn't a good idea, right?

"Makoto, you're with me on this, ri-"

At that exact moment, you turned your head and was met with the disappointing sight of Makoto grabbing a shovel, completely destroying any hopes you had of him being actually sane. 

They're all idiots.

Complete and utter morons. 

A few seconds of conversation between the three went by before you made the decision to turn around and listen in to their conversation. 

"It just seems sort of wrong to do this when it's only the three of us."

Nagisa looked up at the taller team and frowned slightly. "What else are we supposed to do? I mean Rin's in another country, it's not like we can just ask him to come to Japan just to visit the old swim club."

You frowned at the words from Nagisa.

He didn't say anything bad on purpose but you couldn't help but remember a less than positive memory that you've never been able to completely forget about.

You were about to say something but stopped just as the words were about to fall from your lips, you could bring yourself to say anything so you stayed silent and looked away.

"AH!"

Just as you turned away from them you were met by the sigh of Nagisa only a few inches away from your face, the sudden closeness made your cheeks heat up slightly. 

His eyes were staring into yours, causing you to freeze in complete shock before awkwardly moving back slightly. "So, [N/N], will be coming with us to the old SC?"

You narrowed your eyes at him before turning away from, "I already told you, I'm not going because like I said: I. Don't. Want. To. Break. The. Law."'

Letting out a sigh you got up from the floor and threw you bag over your shoulder, letting out a sigh as you pat yourself down. 

"Anyways, even if I wanted to go, I have a shift at the shop tonight so I'm gonna be busy."

Standing in the doorway, you looked over your shoulder, giving Nagisa a small smile and wave. "You can tell me what happened at the SC tomorrow at school tomorrow, okay? I'll talk to you guys later."

* * *

"That's a surprise."

You leaned against the counter, placing down the cup you were cleaning and throwing the white washcloth in your hands over your shoulder. 

"I know, I honestly don't know what they were thinking, sneaking onto priva-"

He interrupted you as if it was something natural to him, and considering the fact that it's him you weren't exactly surprised by his rude interruption.

"No, I meant that it's a surprise that you were actually able to talk to them without making yourself look like a complete idiot."

Your eye twitched. 

Of course, that's what he meant, why were you even surprised?

At this point, you should even be shocked by all the insults he directed towards you. 

"Wh-"

"Look, it's not like they'll see anything special, it's just an old deteriorating building that's getting torn down soon."

You let out a deep sigh.

He was trying his very best to comfort you, even you could see that.

"Right," you said as you flashed him a smile.

_'He's right, nothing out of the ordinary's going to happen.'_


	6. 𝑭𝑰𝑽𝑬 | 𝑼𝑵𝑺𝑷𝑶𝑲𝑬𝑵 𝑴𝑬𝑴𝑶𝑹𝑰𝑬𝑺

𝘼𝙍𝙀 𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙔 𝘾𝙊𝙈𝙋𝙇𝙀𝙏𝙀 𝙄𝘿𝙄𝙊𝙏𝙎_**?**_

You leaned up against the wall, staring up distantly at the ceiling as you eavesdropped on the three swimmers being lectured by a teacher for their less than smart decision to sneak onto private property. 

If you were being honest it wasn't too shocking to hear that they genuinely went through with the idea but that didn't mean you weren't disappointed and annoyed by the fact that they legitimately broke the law. 

Did they really do something like that because of an old-time capsule?

You let out a deep sigh as you closed your eyes. "Did they really remember something like that after so long? I can't believe they did something stupid."

Kenji walked by with Naru, stopping in his stride the moment he laid his eyes on you causing the shorter girl beside him to follow his gaze.

She tilted her head in confusion at what exactly you were doing. 

Arching a brow, he looked you up and down with a judging gaze that caused your eye to twitch, narrowing them as you shot a glare in his direction. 

_'Don't you dare say a single word.'_

But, of course, as always, despite understanding what you were telling him with the look you were shooting him he made the decision to ignore you completely. 

_'That idiot better not do what I think he's gonna do...'_

And yet he did exactly what you didn't want him to do as if it wasn't a big deal and there wasn't a 99.9% chance that you were going to kill him. 

Still keeping eye contact with you, he bent down to the smaller girls height and whispered something in her ear that definitely wasn't too innocent considering the red that painted her cheeks as she avoided your eyes. 

Your eyes twitched at the sight. 

Walking up the two, you keep your sigh on the taller boy not even daring to spare a glance to your other friend who was essentially glowing a deep red that just burned more and more with every step you took towards them. 

He always had to do this, didn't he?

Ugh.

Moving your leg backwards you kept complete eye contact with him, not daring to even do as much as blink... and then you kicked his shin. 

Naru cringed at just seeing it. 

You took that as evidence that it hurt enough for you to look away from him. 

"Just what was that for?!" He asked as he looked up at you with narrowed eyes. 

Was he seriously asking that?

Did he seriously want to know what caused you to do something like that when it was clear as day as to what made him deserve that?

All that did was make your eye twitch. 

"You know exactly what that was for you idiot!"

"Don't call me an idiot, stupid!"

"Hngh! Well, don't call me stupid, dumbas-"

The two of you were able to continue with your insult contest as Naru interrupted the two of you, pushing herself in between the two of you to get both of you away from each other. "C'mon, we shouldn't fight right now."

She flashed both of you a small smile that caused both you and the taller male to look at each for a few seconds before letting a reluctant sigh in unison. 

"Plus," she nudged Kenji's side, "we have a literature club meeting, right?"

"Right..." He mumbled under his breath. 

The brunette could only look at him with a blank expression that somehow expressed both annoyance and shock at the same time while still being just tired. 

_'Are you serious dude?'_

"You literally just came by to tell me about the meeting and you're still being annoying," you placed a hand on your hip as you looked him up and down. "I'm wondering how that's even humanly possible."

"Why you-"

"That's enough you two!"

* * *

It turned out that the meeting was really just about someone accidentally taking Enji's book and so they decided to hold an entire meeting. 

You groaned as you buried your face in your palms. 

Of course, no one stole. 

As it turns out, Enji's book wasn't stolen by anyone instead, it was just in his backpack underneath the table. The place where he left it in the first place. 

Despite finding it in a matter of seconds he forced everyone to stay back as the meeting was going to start in... thirty minutes anyway. 

"[Y/N] has changed quite a bit, hasn't she?"

Kenji raised a brow at the statement, dropping his hands from behind his back to his sides. "Not really."

Narumi blinked slowly, looking him in slight surprise. "What do you mean?"

He sat up straight and motioned over to you on the other side of the room. "Watch this. Oi! [Y/N]!"

Ugh.

Another interruption that you were sure was made for little to no reason, well at least for no important reason that would be worth interrupting you. "What is it?" You groaned out. 

"You're cute."

Huh?

What did he say exactly?

Turning back, you looked down at the book in your hands and read over the page a few more times without taking any of the words on it in. 

All that was on your mind was the words that he said. 

It finally started to sink in. 

Oh.

Slamming your book down on the table, you whipped your head into his direction and shoot him your best attempt at a glare. 

Keyword. 

**Tried.**

With your face glowing a deep red you weren't taken as seriously as you would've liked. "Why the hell did you say that you dumbass?!"

A small chuckle left the brunette's lips as he looked at you in amusement. 

"See, she's exactly the same."

* * *

You rustled around in your bed as you tried to find a comfortable position to sit or lay down, finally giving up after a few minutes of trying. 

A groan. 

Despite your attempts at feeling comfortable, it didn't matter if you were on the most comfortable bed in the world you still couldn't find a way to be comfortable. 

Why was that?

It was, of course, for the main that was a result of your annoyance for the past few days. 

Just before you left school to go home with Kenji and Akihito you spent a few minutes talking with Makoto as you waited for them to show up. 

You can only imagine your reaction to what he said about what he was going to do with Haru and Nagisa later tonight. 

Call them complete idiots. 

Well, at least not to their faces. 

You internally screamed and called them idiots in your mind and maybe there was a chance that you might've ranted about them to the two volleyball players. 

_'This isn't going to end well, is it?'_

Nothing looked like it was going well, at least, as far as you could see nothing looked like it was going to end up as well as they would've hoped. 

_ **[Y/N]:** _

_you're seriously going to samezuka?_

_ **Makoto:** _

_Yup!_

_It seems like it's the best that we've got to see Rin again._

You stared at the messages coming in with a blank expression until your eye started to twitch. All you could do was sit up and continue to stare at it with a small frown of disbelief. 

All of the messages were just something that you couldn't believe was coming from them. 

Well, at least not completely. 

It was more than obvious to you they would be willing to do quite a few things to finally talk to Rin after so long but you didn't think they were quite literally idiots that were willing to break the law by trespassing. 

You huffed as you blew away a few strands of hair from covering your eyes. 

_'I miss Rin too,' _you huffed as you blew away a few strands of hair that fell on your eyes. _'But I'm not going to go as far as to breaking the law just to see him.' _

One more moment of hesitation. 

** _[Y/N]:_ **

_fine_

_just be careful and make sure not to do anything too stupid_

_i don't think you'll see him but if you do..._

_don't get cause any trouble_

_it's bad enough you're trespassing on private property, getting in trouble there will just make things worse_

** _Makoto:_ **

_Don't worry!_

_Nothing bad is going to happen_

_(*￣▽￣)d_

A deep sigh. 

You gave the conversation one last read-through before falling back with a loud sigh, dropping your phone onto the nightstand next to you. 

They really were idiots. weren't they?

I mean, who in their right mind goes on private property to try and find an old friend that they haven't talked to since primary school.

Ugh. 

All you could do was let out a sigh as you let you closed your eyes, your eyelids becoming heavier than lead within seconds of closing them.

* * *

Despite yours hopes of things not ending with them getting into too much trouble it turned out that they were all caught by a teacher, swimming of all things. 

Just how on earth do you get caught by a teacher after having a race in a pool or all thing?

It made no sense to you but if anyone could manage that it definitely had to be those three. 

After all, it was them and there was no one else that would be stupid enough to make the decision to break the law and **swim** of all things just to talk to an old friend who made it clear that he wasn't interested in talking to them. 

You arched a brow as you watched said teens walk out of the teacher's office, looking more dejected than ever. 

Without saying a thing you joined the three, walking by Makoto without saying a thing.

"It sucks that Miss A couldn't really help us out here."

"Yeah, but now I really want to know how that fishing saying goes."

Huh?

_'Is that seriously what he wants to know?'_

A sigh left the brunette's lips. 

He turned to ask the shorter teen about the saying only to be met with an empty spot that was once occupied with his friend. 

Frowning, you stared up at the taller boy with a confused arched brow, still not able to take your mind off his statement from before. "Really? A fish saying by Miss Amakata is the thing that you're concerned about Makoto?"

"Ah!"

Your lips curled up into a small grin as you watched in amusement at the taller teen jumping in shock at what he identified as your sudden appearance. 

"Hey [N/N], what's up?" Nagisa asked.

The smile on your lips twitched slightly. "What's up is the three of you and your weird need to trespass on private property." You folded your arms over your chest. "This is what? The second time already."

A nervous smile snaked its way to Makoto's lips. He scratched the back of his head, nervously laughing at your comment. 

You sharpened your glare. 

"Don't laugh Mako! This is serious, you guys can't just act like dumbasses and trespass on private property all the time!"

"Right," he dropped his hand to his side as he let out a nervous chuckle. "Sorry [Y/N]-"

"Hey, Gou!"

Nagisa cut off Makoto as he called out a new name that you couldn't recognize all that well. 

_'Gou?'_

The two of you dropped your hands to your sides, looking over your shoulder at Nagisa and the arrival of a someone else. A first-year girl from her appearance.

"I told you guys to call me Kou, remember?"

She pouted at the name she was being called as if there was something wrong with it.

You narrowed your eyes as you focused on her, thinking about something that you felt was making you feel off. There was something familiar about her to you, but you couldn't put your finger on it. 

Nagisa tilted his head. "Yeah, but does it really even matter?"

_"Did I see her at the entrance ceremony?'_

"Of course it does!"

You pursed your lips. 

_'No, it's got to be something else... Maybe it's her hair.'_

"You're Gou."

"Kou!"

_'That's it!'_

You snapped your fingers as you finally realized why she was so familiar to you. 

"It's Gou.

"Kou!"

_'There was no doubt about it, it had to be her.'_

"Okay, Kou."

"It's Gou!"

She paused. "Damn it!"

Without even thinking you took a step forward and cut into the conversation between the two first years. "I remember it now, you're Rin's younger sister, right?"

A moment of hesitation. 

"Y-Yes, it's nice to meet you I'm Kou Matsuoka."

So you were right, that was at least one good thing to come out of today. 

"Oh, right!"

The younger girl turned away from you and back to Makoto and Nagisa. "So, were you guys able to talk to my brother?"

Nagisa pouted at the words that came from the shorter teen. "About that, I don't mean to be rude or hurt your feelings but he was a complete jerk! I mean we haven't seen the guy in years and the first thing he does is challenge Haru to a race."

You frowned. 

It was hard to believe everything that Nagisa was saying but considering the way he simply ignored you when you called out to him just a while ago was something that was odd. 

Just hearing the fact that he hasn't been responding from Kou was something that shocked you, she was his younger sister. If there was anyone he'd respond to, you definitely thought it'd be her.

"Why don't we start a swimming club here at school?"

You blinked. 

_'A swimming club?'_

"We could see Rin again!"

Upon hearing Nagisa's words you frowned slightly, turning your head down to the floor as you thought back to your last encounter with him. 

_'After everything that they said, it doesn't even seem like Rin would even want to see them. What's the point of starting a swimming club to see him if the doesn't want to do the same?'_

* * *

You and Kou sat alone in silence on the floor, glancing around the room not sure exactly what to say which only contributed to the awkward silence between the two of you. 

Ugh. 

You couldn't wait until the others came back with Haru.

_'Hm... It's been quite a while since I've been here, it really hasn't changed a bit, has i-' _

"So, you're [Y/N]."

Huh?

You were brought out of your deep thoughts by the younger female. 

Blinking, you turned to look at her with a nervous smile, responding after a few seconds of hesitance. "Y-Yes? Is there something wrong?"

She gave a small shake of her head. "No, it's nothing. I just thought you would know something since- I, uh, nevermind, it's nothing," she said with a nervous smile. 

"Hey Ko-" 

Before you could finish, you were interrupted midsentence by Haru appearing in front of the two of you, wearing only his swim trunks.

Your eyes twitched. 

_'Is he being serious? Is there really a point in doing this?'_

The sight in front of you was something that you could only look at with a deadpan expression, if it was anyone then you're sure they would show more emotion but you weren't interested in doing that in the slightest. 

You turned your head after hearing a small squeal. 

Wha-

There was Kou, staring at Haru, she was basically radiating sparkles as she stared up at him in complete awe. 

In your disappointed state, you simply shot her a blank stare. "Are you serious Kou?"

"Haru, this is Rin's little sister," Nagisa said, introducing Haru to the first-year girl. 

All you did was think about the current situation, tuning out the current conversation occurring in front of you. 

"Hold on, are you saying Rin came home every year and never got in contact with any of us? What a jerk!"

You froze as you thought back to the time that you pushed away from your mind. 

* * *

_After spending a good few hours at the family restaurant you were walking home in quiet when you had come across a familiar boy that you thought was supposed to be in another country. _

_You narrowed your eyes at the sight. _

_It was hard for you to believe that it was actually him._

_Despite your reservations, you raised your voice and called out his name. _

_There was still the slim chance that it was him and your eyes weren't just being annoying and playing tricks on your once again. _

_"Rin?"_

_You tilted your head to the side as you took a few hesitant steps towards until you were finally able to get a better, clearer view him, giving you a 100% guarantee that it was him. _

_In your excitement you ran up to him, not noticing the hesitant and small smile that he gave as you took your last few steps up to him. "Oh, hey [Y/N]."_

_Your lips curled up into a small smile. "It's nice to see you again, I didn't expect to see you so soon. So, how's Australia been so far?"_

_He let up his guard for only a second but it was more than enough for you to notice but you simply didn't comment on it._

_What was wrong?_

_That was the only question that was on your mind on your moment now. _

_"It's been alright, How've you been?"_

_You answered without skipping a beat. "I recently joined the swimming club at junior high with Makoto and **Haru,**" as you said that you failed to notice Rin as he looked away from you, ducking his head under his hand. _

_"Speaking of which, did you see Haru ye-"_

_He interrupted you before you could even finish asking your question. "Sorry [Y/N[ but I have to go now."_

_The maroon-haired boy turned on his heels and ran before you could even finish, not daring to look back at you as he left you alone only to watch his back as his figure became smaller and smaller. _

_A few seconds passed as you stared into the direction that he ran into with a distant gaze. _

_"Did I- Did I do something wrong?" You asked as you looked down at your hands, you didn't think it was possible to feel so terrible but it was finally happening. _

* * *

"Do you want to join [N/N]?"

You blinked. 

Looking up at the source of the voice that interrupted you, cutting you out of your thoughts. "Huh?" You asked as you gave him a confused smile. 

Crap. 

As you thought, you zoned out once again. This always seemed to happen with you even if you tried to stop and fix it a million times over. 

That was embarrassing, it seemed as if the universe just wanted you to be in a constant state of embarrassment every single time you were around them.

Nagisa simply smiled at you with his usual carefree smile, offering to repeat himself at you continued to blink in confusion, staring distantly at your hands. "The swimming club that we're forming, do you want to join?"

Your breath hitched. 

Swimming club...

The corners of your mouth curled upwards in an awkward smile that you gave, forcing a sense of comfort with it. "Sorry, I can't really do that. I'm already the manager of the volleyball club, a member of the literature club, and class rep and a bunch of other things so I can't really afford to do anything else."

It wasn't a complete lie, you really were busy with more than enough things, being the member of multiple student organizations at school. 

Sure, there was a part of you that genuinely didn't want to join something like a swimming club, especially when it came to the people in involved. 

Wow. 

You really weren't making the case of saying that you didn't truly dislike any of them any better now, were you?

Seriously, the first thought that came to your mind was that you didn't think you could really stand to be in an actual club with them forget a whole swim club. 

Things didn't really work out the last time you were in a swim club. 

Noticing the lack of a response from him, you turned your head up and looked at the small frown that dressed his lips. A small sigh left your lips at the sight. 

"I'm sorry I can't really help you Nagisa, but I promise to support you guys, even if I can't help you guys too much."

* * *

Panting, you dropped your hand to your knees as you tried your very best to catch your breath, cringing at the feeling of sweat falling down your face. 

This was exactly why you stopped exercising, well, at least since you've stopped doing it outside where you have to deal with the sun of all things. 

"Maybe jogging wasn't the best of ideas..." You mumbled under your breath. 

Taking one more deep breath you stood up straight, looking over your shoulder into the direction of your house where you began your jog. 

You groaned. 

It definitely wasn't your intent to get so far away and it was finally starting to sink into you about how annoying it was going to be to get home. 

Pulling your phone out of your pocket you scrolled through your phone and waved a finger over a few names. "Hm... Maybe I can just call someone to pick me up or something like that..."

A feeling gave you the strange urge to look up, it was an odd feeling but it might've been better if you just ignore your urge to look up and just went on your way. 

There was someone that you didn't think you'd ever see again, well, at least not anytime soon and definitely not while out on a jog. 

_ **Rin Matsuoka.** _

You're not sure what made you do it, on a normal occasion you wouldn't have done something like that but after seeing him after so long you couldn't stop yourself before you heard his name leave your lips.

"Rin!"

The maroon-haired teen stopped at the sound of the voice, freezing slightly as he hesitated for a good few seconds before finally looking over his shoulder his a bored expression. 

Almost immediately he looked away from you and went on with his jog as if he didn't see you in the first place.

He definitely saw you, there was no question about that.

So then why exactly did he act as if he simply saw right through you?

"Rin?"


	7. 𝑺𝑰𝑿 | 𝑭𝑰𝑵𝑨𝑳𝑳𝒀, 𝑨 𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑽𝑬𝑹𝑺𝑨𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵

𝙄𝙏 𝙈𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏 𝘽𝙀 𝘼 𝙂𝙊𝙊𝘿 𝙄𝘿𝙀𝘼 𝙏𝙊 𝙉𝙊𝙏 𝙏𝙀𝙇𝙇 𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙈 𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙔 𝙇𝙄𝙏𝙏𝙇𝙀 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙏 𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙋𝙀𝙉𝙀𝘿 𝙏𝙊 𝙔𝙊𝙐.

Now, what was happening?

After your... interaction with Rin while out on your jog, if you can even truly call it a real interaction due to him not even acknowledging your existence.

He simply looked over his shoulder at you, stared for a good second or two and then he went on with jog not daring to say a single thing despite the fact that you went as far as saying hello from him.

Ugh.

You furrowed your brows at the thought of the maroon-haired teen, just thinking back to what happened or lack of what happened got you upset. 

It wasn't like you ever said anything that would've made him want to ignore you, well, at least nothing that you were aware of that is. 

"Ugh! I don't know what I did!" You huffed out as you plopped back down on your bed, taking a break from you pacing back and forth. "No! I didn't do anything so he just ignored for no reason whatsoever!"

Your voice echoed off the walls as you continued on with your venting, ripping the paper in your hands into smaller and smaller threads. 

The two others in your room exchanged looks before turning their attention back to you. 

It was clear to them that your less than stellar interaction with Rin had quite the impact on you considering how you called them out of nowhere and acted as if you had an emergency. 

Just imagine their disappointment when they realized that it was just you wanting to vent. 

Sure, you did wait an entire day to call them and tell them about everything but the reasoning behind your calling was a little less important than they were expecting. 

Though the point in inviting them was to be seen considering the fact that you've spent the past thirty minutes just ranting as if they weren't even there in the first place.

Was there even a point in them being there at all?

The black-haired teen let out a sigh. "So, Rin ignored you?"

A curt nod. 

Kenji simply rolled his eyes as he leaned his head against the wall. "So, he ignored you, what's the big deal? It's not like he said or did anything bad."

Not anything bad?

Is that really what he just said?

You stood up and narrowed your eyes at him as you puffed up your cheeks. "Don't take this so lightly Kenji! I don't get why he'd just ignore me like that."

The two boys exchanged one last look with each other before sighing in unison. 

Kenji ran his fingers through his hair as he looked down at his hands. "I know I said it isn't that big a deal, it's just that it's hard to think of Rin of acting that way."

* * *

_"Rin, what are you doing?"_

_Said boy jumped in surprise at the appearance of a familiar voice appearing from behind him out of nowhere. _

_"Ah- Oh, it's just you."_

_The brunette looked at the shorter boy with a disappointed look on his face. "Oh, it's you, it's nice to know how you really feel about me Matsuoka."_

_He tilted his head to the side, blinking as he looked down at the table to see the red-faced boy looking up at him with narrowed eyes as he hid a notebook under his arms. _

_Of course, the brunette wasn't exactly the most subtle in his actions causing himself to easily get noticed in only a matter of seconds. _

_"W-What is it?"_

_Having no idea what the concept of personal space was all the taller boy could do was lean in closer to take a closer inspection of the boy. "Are you blushing Matsuoka?"_

_If even possible, said boy's face burned an even deeper red to the point of his face looking like he was glowing red. "W-What are you talking about?"_

_"Are you stuttering?"_

_"I'm not, just be quiet already!"_

_A stare off between the boys began, they kept their eyes on each other as their narrowed them in unison, not daring to take their eyes off of each other. _

_But just a few seconds into said stare-off, the brunette boy's eyes wandered off to the side as he was able to catch the sight of a familiar boy from the corner of his eye. He looked back at the boy and back at his friends multiple times in the timespan of only a few seconds before he took a deep breath and called out his name. _

_"Aki! Grab his notebook!"_

_Before Rin could even process Kenji's words he felt something get pulled out from under his arms before he could blink. "Huh?"_

_Akihito threw the book to his younger friend and ran towards him out of confusion and then hiding behind his back as he peeked over his shoulder to read through the book. _

_Despite his initial interest, Kenji flipped through the pages with a look of boredom, obviously not at all entertained by the contents of said book. It was lacking, to say the least. _

_"There's nothing here, I don't know what you were so embarrassed abo-"_

_He paused as he read the name written in the book a good few times, not quite believing what he was seeing. A small smirk snaked its way to his lips. "Did you write [Y/N]'s name in this?"_

_A few seconds passed before those words really started to sink in and when it finally sunk in it was more than obvious. _

_Rin's face exploded in a glowing bright red as he began to stutter, tripping over his own words as he shook his head from side to side without stopping. "N-No, I di-didn't do that at all, you're just see-"_

_Speak of the devil. _

_"What are you three doing?"_

_The three of them jumped in surprise at the intrusion of their conversation with your voice, Akihito and Kenji looking over their shoulder with a nervous expression painted on their faces. _

_"Hm? Is there something wrong?"_

_You turned to look at Rin and his glowing red face causing you to tilt your head to the side which didn't really help in calming him down._

_"Are you okay?" You asked._

_Of course, he wasn't okay, it was obvious to everyone but you that he was clearly nervous around you even though you wrote it off as him being shy despite the fact that he was friendly with everyone else. _

_"I'm fine, there's nothing wrong here whatsoever," Rin nervously laughed as he pushed his notebook even further behind his back in his own attempt to hide it from you. _

_You simply narrowed your eyes at him. "What are you hiding behind your back?" You tried to reach for whatever was behind his back only from him to quickly run away from you. _

_"Rin?"_

_"There's nothing here, really."_

_You narrowed your eyes at him. "Rin, come back here!"_

_"I already told you, it's nothing!"_

_The two boys watched the two of you as you chased the maroon-haired boy around while Akihito simply looked on with a small smile as he nervously laughed to himself._

* * *

After a few minutes of reminiscing, the three of you talked a bit of club and then a bit about studying that didn't exactly go well, with the short study session ending with a book being thrown at the wall. 

"See you two later," you said as you waved goodbye to the two, a small smile dressing your lips. 

You let out a yawn as you watched them leave, their figures getting smaller and smaller until they completely disappeared into the distance. 

In your tired state, you listened to the sound of your light footsteps against the floor as they let out a small echo through the house, something you were more than used to. 

As you plopped back down onto your bed you couldn't help but think back to Rin and more specifically the way Nagisa described him and your interaction with him not too long ago 

You sighed softly to yourself as you fell back into your bed.

_'I hope everything is fine with him.'_

The sound of a notification from your phone went off as you turned your head at the sound. 

Squinting your eyes at the dim light that was a rather jarring sight in the dark room you groaned before reaching over to it. 

Ugh...

_ **1 new message from Shin** _

Of course, it just had to be him. 

It did seem to be a bit too much to ask to go a bit more than a few days without any contact with him so you shouldn't really be all that surprised. 

He always did seem to know when something was going on with you and he always found the need to ask you about it, that was probably what he asked messaged you for. You had no doubt about it.

** _Shin:_ **

_Is everything alright [N/N]?_

_'Of course, why am I surprised?'_

Closing your eyes, you pressed your phone up to your forehead and let out a deep sigh. 

Well, it wasn't like you had many alternatives to try and come up with an idea as to how to fix everything, now was there?

"Hey, can we talk?"

* * *

Maybe it was a bit too much to expect to get much helpful advice from your older brother regarding a subject that you've barely talked about with him if ever. 

It was a long shot but you really thought he'd be able to help deal with coming to terms about the change in Rin's personality lately. 

All that conversation did was make things even more difficult than they already were. 

* * *

_"Is everything alright?"_

_Just what did that have to be the very first thing that he asked about?_

_He could've actually answered the phone like a normal person and say the basic things when one usually answers the phone like "hello, how are you?"_

_But of course, he had to go straight for the head. _

_"Um... Y-Ye- I mean, no."_

_Hngh..._

_It was basically second nature for him, he always seemed to be able to get you slip up, even though you weren't the best at hiding things in the first place. _

_You let out a deep sigh as you leaned your head up against the wall, turning your head up to stare distantly at the ceiling. "Kinda, I guess..."_

_"[N/N], just say what happened already, it's too early for me to deal with this."_

_Excuse me?_

_Your eye twitched at his words. _

_'What was even the point in asking me what's wrong if you're not going to wait for me to tell you what's going on? You might as well just tell me to tell you what happened.'_

_"Well, are you going to tell me or not?"_

_Your eye twitched. "I am, just wait," a sigh left your lips as you turned your attention to your lap. "What would do if you had a friend that changed in a way that you didn't like?"_

_There was a moment of silence on the other side other than some rustling as he moved around. "Are you going to say anything or-"_

_Before you finish speaking you were cut off by the sound of him letting out a long sigh. "[N/N], is this about Rin or something like that?"_

_Huh?_

_You felt your cheeks start to burn, your eyes widening at his blunt question._

_Was it really so hard to be a bit subtle when asking you certain questions, especially when you were obviously hesitant about said questions?_

_Despite clearly being right, you adamantly denied it. _

_"What?! No, of course not, why would I be?" You turned your head away in a huff. "Don't be ridiculous, it'd be stupid for me to do act all mopey for that reason."_

_Your attempts at sounding as uncaring as possible didn't go as well as you might've hoped considering how badly your voice cracked at every word that fell from your lips._

_Despite only talking through the phone you could just see the judging look he was giving you in response to your terrible attempt at lying. _

_A sigh. _

_"Yeah, it's about him."_

_Maybe it was that intuition of his that helped him figure out what was wrong with yo-_

_"Nagisa told me."_

_Oh, of course, that makes a lot more sense than the whole intuition, though to be honest, that was a lot more disappointing and lacklustre than you were expecting. _

_He let out a sigh. "But if I'm being honest you've been acting weird lately, I mean weirder than you usually are. _

_"But if I'm being honest you've been acting weird lately, you haven't been talking to me lately."_

_Your eye twitched._

_Of course, he just had to slide in an insult. _

_"But seriously, just tell me what happened or your stupid face is going to get stuck in my head because you were being annoyed and telling me anything."_

_You groaned at his words. _

_He could've been at least a bit nicer with his words, it's not like there was really a point in being rude about it. _

_"Fine," you reluctantly huffed out as you narrowed your brows, "I'll tell you if it'll get you off my back already."_

* * *

It's safe to say the advice that you got from him was absolutely terrible and useless since it didn't really give you any idea of what to say or do.

Well, it's not like you really expected much from him but still, he could've said something helpful at least once. Even if it was the most basic of advice like "hang in there" you still would've been somewhat disappointed but it would've been better than what he told you. 

_"Don't worry about it, everything's gonna work out in the long run, you shouldn't put too much thought into it." _

_Huh?_

_Was he actually being serious?_

_No, you probably misheard him._

_There was no way he honest just told you to not worry about it because if he did then you would honestly have to call him a dumbass that you're embarrassed to be related to. _

_He didn't say anything else._

_Your eye twitched._

_God, he's a dumbass. _

_"Don't worry about it?! I just confided in you and all you can say is that I should go with the flow and see where the chips fall?"_

_He groaned. "That's not what I'm saying, okay, that's what I'm saying, all I mean is that you can't worry about every little thing or it'll cause more problems for you."_

_You waited for minutes as you stared down at your phone. _

_Ugh, maybe the advice wasn't as bad as you initially though it was. "Fine."_

* * *

Just how is a walk supposed to clear your head again?

If anything it would've just gotten you more stressed with getting sweaty from running but it wasn't like you had anything better to do at the moment. 

You're sure that no one really wanted to your hear ranting, well, at least not this late. 

Walking was just the best thing that you could do to try and forget everything and follow Shintaro's advice by "not worrying" about it. 

Maybe it a walk could be a bit more relaxing than you thought of at first. 

Of course, the moment you felt calming down and forgetting about everything your thoughts about your conversation with him came back to you.

Your thoughts raced through your head as you stared down at the sidewalk, watching your feet move with every step without taking a single look up. 

_'What does he mean by "don't worry about it"? How can I not worry about it, I mean-'_

Before you realized there was someone in front of you, you felt yourself bump into them and before you could react you fell to the ground.

"Hey, watch where you-re goi- [Y/N]?" 

What?

Don't tell me?

"Hey Rin, long time no see," you flashed him a small smile and wave

If your smile was any bigger then you're sure he would be able to see how nervous you were feeling, all you could think about was what happened just a day ago. 

"You should be more careful."

Ah...

Your eye twitched at that comment. 

Almost immediately, you stood up and narrowed your eyes as you shot a glare up at him. "Excuse me, why don't you've more careful. After all, you're the one who ran into me in the first place why don't you watch where you're going?"

His cheeks turned pink at your words. "I was watching where I was going, you were the one that-"

"Pfft!"

Rin looked down at you and saw you laughing, wiping a tear from your eye. "What are you laughing about?" He tried his very best to get his sentence out before he could stutter. 

"Nothing, nothing, don't worry about it."

The taller teen turned away from you, hiding the glowing blush that painted his cheeks. "Whatever, I-"

"I'm just glad you're not mad at me like I thought."

"Hm?"

You looked down at your feet. "Well, yesterday when I saw you, you just ignored me so I just thought you were mad at me or something like that."

A sigh left his lips as he turned away from you, grabbing the back of his head. "Sorry about that..."

"Don't worry about it," you sighed as you looked up at him with a small smile

Well, that was certainly a relief. 

It definitely lifted a weight off of your shoulder to know that he wasn't mad at you specifically. Of course, you still didn't understand why he'd ignore you but at least he was talking to you. 

"Anyways, it's getting late," you looked up at the sky, "I should be getting home now, it was nice seeing you again, hopefully, we'll talk later." You said as you turned on your heels. 

Rin watched you for a few seconds before quickly catching up to you. "I'll walk you home."

You blinked slowly before looking up at the taller teen. "That's really no necessary Rin, I can walk home by myself, it's not that far from here."

Turning away he buried his hands in his pockets. "It's not a big deal, I was thinking about visiting my mom anyways." 

He glanced over at you from the corner of his eye. "Hey, [Y/N], you still live at the same place, right?"

"Yup- wait a second."

As those words that he said sunk in you felt the corners of your lips curl upwards into a teasing smirk. "Do you still remember where I live?"

Of course, you had to point that out. 

Despite being annoyed when your older brother pointed out things you didn't want to be noticed it was clear to see the similarities between the two of you. 

He stiffened. "Don't get the wrong idea, you just have a big house, so it's easy to remember."

"Of course, of course."

As you made your way home with Rin by your side you continued rambling about random things that didn't really matter in hindsight. 

While you did so all Rin could do was stare, looking away every now and then when he thought you were going to catch him in the act.

One would think that four years would be more than enough to get over a crush you got in primary school but it obvious with the way he was acting that he wasn't off the majority. 

Despite that, he gave a small smile as you continued with your rambling. 

Maybe holding onto this crush for just a little bit longer wouldn't be that bad, now, would it?


	8. 𝑺𝑬𝑽𝑬𝑵 | 𝑪𝑳𝑬𝑨𝑹𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑼𝑷 𝑻𝑹𝑶𝑼𝑩𝑳𝑬𝑺𝑶𝑴𝑬 𝑾𝑬𝑬𝑫𝑺

𝙒𝙃𝙔 𝙒𝘼𝙎 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙎 𝘼𝙇𝙒𝘼𝙔𝙎 𝙎𝙊 𝙃𝘼𝙍𝘿 𝙏𝙊 𝘿𝙊?

No matter what you said, you'd always feel like the bad guy in the situation. 

It's not like there was any way you could reject someone's confession to you and say no without looking like the bad way in someone's eyes. 

You turned your gaze down to your feet as you turned them inwards. 

This was always something that you hated about school, no matter what you said or did people would constantly come up to you and confess. 

Considering the fact you have somewhat of a reputation for not accepting many if any confessions it was odd how much people went through with it anyone. Though, it's not as if you could really say much with what happened with you. 

"Sorry..."

All you could do was grab the back of your head as you looked down at your feet, you couldn't bring yourself to look up at him, not when you just rejected his confession. 

You hurried away, not daring to look back at him or even wait for a response. 

_'How am I supposed to act after rejecting a confession? It's not like I can just say sorry but we can hang out, that'll be way too awkward.'_

Just as you turned the corner you felt an arm swing over your shoulder as a familiar, teasing voice entered your ears. 

Who else but him, of course. 

Looking his way, you turned your head up and narrowed your eyes at the brunette. "What is it now Kenji?" 

The tone of your voice made it clear that you weren't interested in small talk, though, like always he ignored that fact and continued on speaking in his teasing manner. 

He flashed you a small smile, chuckling nervously to himself. "Easy there [Y/N], I just got some news about the swim club Makoto and the others are starting or 'restarting'."

You blinked and arched a brow. 

"They're actually starting a swim club?

"Yup! Though they only have three members at the moment, but they have to clean out the old pool before they can even start."

Was he actually being nice to yo-

Oh, that was it. 

An annoyed looked brushed over your face. "And I need to know this because..."

You already knew what type of joke he was going to try and make to you, you knew him too well for him to get away with it. 

Somehow, and you're not sure how this was even possible, but his face looked even smugger than it already did. "I'm, of course, telling you this so you can go and support your boyfriends in their journey to have a successful swim club of course!" 

Your eye twitched. 

"I mean, you've been a lot more mopey than usual and I really don't want to deal with tha-"

"Fine, I'll go since you're being even more annoying than usual."

"What else am I supposed to do- Wait, 'more annoying than usual? Are you saying you think I'm annoying-"

"I'll be back in a few minutes!"

* * *

After much deliberation with the trusted advice-giver known as your conscience, you made the decision to make your way to the pool. 

You arched a brow at the sight of them cleaning up the long-abandoned pool that you were sure no one has used in a good few years. 

_'They're actually going through with this, aren't they?'_

It was surprising that they were actually going all out with this, it certainly what you were expecting from them. 

You chuckled softly as you watched how focused they were as they focused on cleaning the weed-infested pool. They didn't even notice you were there. 

Now that was some dedication.

_'I guess I shouldn't really be all that surprised though."_

You noticed Nagisa freeze in the middle of cleaning up when he noticed you, your small chuckles catching his attention. He looked over his shoulder and flashed you a smile. 

"[N/N]-chan!"

Huh?

You blinked slowly, taken aback by his loud tone of voice.

Despite that you eventually smiled at him, raising your hand just a bit as you gave him a small wave. 

You were slightly surprised by his loud tone but you eventually smiled at him as you raised your hand to give him a small wave back. 

"[N/N], are you here to help us out or something?"

You laughed off his comment as you waved a hand in front of your face. "No, sorry about that, I'm just here because aI wanted to see how far you guys have gotten so far."

Crouching down you looked at Nagisa with a small smile, "I knew that you guys were going to reform the swim club but I didn't expect you guys to go through all the trouble."

Nagisa tilted his head before a determined look brushed over his face, "Of course, this is basically the only way we can see Rin again!"

You blinked. 

More soft laughter left your lips. 

"Of course, I understand perfectly," you smiled back at him as you continued some small conversation, failing to notice the blue eyes staring at you from the other side of the empty pool. 

* * *

Watching for a few minutes, you sat down, placing your elbows on your thighs as you let your chin rest in your hands.

As you watched them all you could think about was what Nagisa had told you not too long ago. 

"Of course, this is basically the only way we can see Rin again, huh?" You muttered those under your breath as you stared down at your feet. 

You let out a soft sigh as you furrowed your brows. 

_'Would Rin even want to see them?'_

Rin in all of your recent interaction with him acted normally, he didn't act anything like how Nagisa described him as being during their two interactions but it was clear to you that he didn't like speaking about the others. 

At the mere mention of them, he'd always change the subject to someone or something else, he didn't even want to think about talking about them. 

"Thanks for coming here [Y/N]-"

You jumped in surprise at the sound of the brunette's voice breaking you out of your thoughts, causing you to fall off the blue bench you were sitting on. 

"Ah, [Y/N], are you alright?" Makoto asked in concern as he gave you a hand. 

Taking his hand, he pulled you up with ease and watched as you dusted yourself off with a worried expression brushing over his face. 

Before he could even get a single word out forget an apology you spoke up, preventing him from anything more. "I just got surprised, that's all, there's no reason for you to get so concerned, okay?"

You smiled up at him, it seemed like your comment helped quite a bit as his shoulders relaxed. "By the way, Makoto, what was it that you wanted to say to me anyways?"

"Hm? Oh, I just wanted to say thank you for coming over."

You blinked as you simply tilted your head. "What do you mean by that exactly?"

"Well, ever since hanging around again Haru's been a lot happier than he usually is," Makoto looked over his shoulder back at his stone-faced friend. 

Really?

That couldn't be the truth, could it?

At least, you couldn't think of that as being anywhere near the truth, not with how things were between the two of you.

You frowned slightly at his comment and turned your attention down to your hands as you fiddled with your fingers. "Are you sure about that? I don't think Haru's really that happy to see me of all people," you sighed softly, "I'm sure he would've been much happier if I just left you guys alone."

Makoto looked up at you, clearly surprised at your comment before gently patting the top of your head with a smile. "

You felt your cheeks getting warmer by the second. 

"Don't be ridiculous [Y/N], Haru'sm definitely been happier since you've started hanging around us again. I know he doesn't really show it much but there was definitely a difference in Haru after you stopped talking to him in junior high, I'm sure you hanging around again is making him a lot more happy than you not bothering ever could."

_'It's really hard to believe those words but hearing them come from Makoto I can't help but think of those words as true.'_

"But..."

Huh?

Makoto's face was slightly red from (what you assumed to be) the heat. "If it makes you feel any better, I know I've definitely been a lot happier since you've started to come around again."

You stared up at him as you repeated his words in your head for what seemed like a hundred times, your cheeks burned as those words finally sunk in. 

Is he being serious?

He didn't really mean, did he?

The brunette looked down and slowly began to realize what he said as he continued to look at your flustered state. The words that he said began to echo in his mind. 

_'I've definitely been a lot happier since you've started to come around again...'_

_'Why did I even say that?!'_

Makoto began to turn beetroot red at his thoughts. 

He attempted to speak only for the both of you to speak at the same time, only causing the two of you to get even more embarrassed than before. 

Nagisa called out to the third year in a teasing voice. "Hey, Makoto, you can flirt with [Y/N] later, we have to get this done!"

The moment those words left Nagisa's lips Makoto turned even brighter than you thought was humanly possible, you could swear that steam as coming off of him.

You probably would've commented on it if it wasn't for you feeling just as embarrassed as him.

Extremely nervous laughter left your lips as you took a few steps backwards. "I should get back to practice, I'll talk to you later Makoto!"

Almost immediately you ran off, hurrying down the stairs as you felt your cheeks burn more and more by the second until you could swear your cheeks were on fire. 

What's with these feelings?

These never appeared before.


	9. 𝑬𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻 | 𝑨𝑵 𝑼𝑵𝑷𝑹𝑶𝑫𝑼𝑪𝑻𝑰𝑽𝑬 𝑴𝑨𝑻𝑪𝑯

𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙎𝙀 𝙈𝘼𝙏𝘾𝙃𝙀𝙎 𝘿𝙄𝘿𝙉'𝙏 𝙍𝙀𝘼𝙇𝙇𝙔 𝙃𝘼𝙑𝙀 𝙈𝙐𝘾𝙃 𝙊𝙁 𝘼 𝙋𝙊𝙄𝙉𝙏, 𝙄𝙏'𝙎 𝙉𝙊𝙏 𝙇𝙄𝙆𝙀 𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙔 𝙃𝙀𝙇𝙋𝙀𝘿 𝘼𝙇𝙇 𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙏 𝙈𝙐𝘾𝙃.

Even with all the time and effort, you put into the club and the occasion of you actually setting up a practice matches you didn't really see the point in setting up all of those matches. 

What was really the point?

It wasn't as if they really lead up to anything. 

Almost every single practice match was with the same team and with the same 'tactics' being used in every match, there was never any change. 

It wasn't as if you were ever going to make it to a real competition that actually had even a smidge of actual importance/

Sure, that was an extremely pessimistic thing to think and with the current state of the team it would be much better to think about it in a positive light but it was the truth. 

As far back as you can remember the volleyball club of Iwatobi has always been less than stellar. Even in junior high, you knew that they weren't the best of teams. 

Back then it was extremely difficult to even find footage of their presence and tournaments, you'd have a better chance of finding them sitting around in the background for five seconds in a small news story. 

You let out a deep sigh as you leaned your head back against the seat. 

Despite all of your thoughts, there was one main reason why you didn't want to go to the practice match. 

Sure, it was extremely petty but there was someone there who just had a face that just couldn't help but get you irrationally upset to the point that it was probably unhealthy. 

But hopefully, a miracle will occur and he won't say anything that will get on your nerves to the point of saying something less than pleasant to his face. 

**Nagisa:**

_tell everyone i said good luck! _ _(>ω^)_

Another sigh left your lips as you returned back to the bottom of your bag, might as well just relax until you have to deal with a hot gym and yelling that was most definitely going to last a good few hours. 

"So... How do you feel things are gonna go at today's match [Y/N]?" 

Narrowing your eyes, you looked over your shoulders at the brunette and gave him an annoyed look that seemed to constantly snake it's way to your face whenever it came to talking to him. "I feel like we're probably going to lose once again since it seems like that's what we always do."

Kenji looked at you with a shocked expression as he listened to the words that fell from your lips. "You could at least have some confidence in us!"

Why in the world would you ever have confidence in them?

It's not like they ever did anything that ever warranted you to ever have any confidence in them. 

Pursing your lips you looked away from him and felt your eye twitch, for someone that was popular for some reason and was somehow considered to be "likeable" he was extremely annoying to talk to. 

You'd think being childhood friends with him would cause you to get used to him but nope, it was the complete opposite for you. 

Being friends with him for so long has only made your patience with him wear thin. 

"Considering the fact that we basically every single tournament, game, and practice match that we take part in, I wouldn't say there's anything wrong with my way of thinking," you huffed out before quickly turning your head away from the brunette. 

Sure, it was a bit harsh but it was the truth. 

There wasn't much hope and confidence to be put into a rather mediocre team that didn't really seem to be all that interesting to even a junior high team. 

If it wasn't solely for the fact that they were a high school team you were sure that all those junior high matches you had attended with the rest of the team wouldn't end with saying goodbye to a bunch of adoring junior high students. 

"Plus, the fact that you're a rather mediocre player doesn't really give me as much confidence as I would've liked."

Not bothering to even bat an eye at him you turned your attention to your lap as you pulled out a worn down notebook from your bag and dropped it in your lap.

Kenji looked at you with a slightly offended expression, his cheeks slightly red as he gave you a pout. "Y'know, there's really no need to say it that way-

"By the way Kenji, this is why you should just shut up sometimes," you flipped through the pages of your journal with a bored expression dressing your face. 

"Wha?" 

He raised a brow at your words and was about to prod you further about you meant but he, fortunately, was interrupted midsentence by the bus coming to a sudden stop, sending him face-first with the seat in front of him. 

You smirked in amusement as you heard the brunette let out a pained groan as his face came in contact with the back of your seat.

The sound of him hitting the seat caused everyone to look over to the two of you before quickly looking away from the sight that they were more than accustomed to. 

"-Because there's a red light," you finished with a teasing voice as you looked over your shoulder at the brunette whose face was glowing a bright red. 

Despite trying your very best to try and seam unamused at what happened your amusement was as clear as day in your eyes.

His eye twitched. 

"You could've told me that before my face came in contact with your stupid seat," he huffed out as he kicked the back of your seat.

Despite feeling the bump from the hit you simply ignored it and continued smiling in amusement. 

"I know, it's just a lot funnier this way."

* * *

The moment you took your first step of the bus you were already dreading the interaction that you were forced to engage in no matter how you felt. 

In your gloom you simply ignored the usual conversation going on between the others, the only thing that was on your mind was someone with an annoyingly pretty face. 

You cringed. 

Just thinking about his stupid, pretty face was already annoying you. 

For someone that was "well-liked" for some bizarre reason he seemed to annoy you with little to no trouble, it really made you wonder if it was really a good idea to join the volleyball club. 

It was a bit much but he seemed to make you think that way.

You looked around, he didn't seem to be there yet. 

That was good, you didn't have to face him until you got into the gym. 

Just as you took a step towards the gym you were stopped in your tracks by the sound of the very voice, annoying and fake as usual, call out your name. 

Your eye twitched. 

Of course it was him. 

Not seeing him the moment you stepped of the bus was a bit too good to be true. 

"[N/N]~"

Ugh, just hearing his annoying voice was annoying you. 

It really annoyed you to hear his stupid voice, just hearing it could make you see his face already. 

Taking a deep breath, you let out shoulders slowly fall before you turned to look at the owner of your less than favourite voice, a clearly fake smile on your face as you greeted him with a sickeningly sweet voice. 

"Oh, if it isn't Mikado, it's nice to see you again, it's been awhile, hasn't it?"

His smile twitched just barely but it was just enough for you to notice. 

"It's nice to see you again as well [N/N], though I have to admit, it's a shame that your team is going to lose again like they always do."

Your lips twitched. 

Ah...

He was just as much of prick as you remembered.

With that comment, you ignored the feeling of wanting to fight him at the moment instead of deciding to force your smile to stay up as you looked back at him, "Well, hopefully, your team loses every match until you graduate, I can only hope."

Kenji and Akihito exchanged looks before turning their attention back to the less than pleasant interaction between you and the black-haired captain. 

The sight was something that they were more than used to. 

It seemed as if the two of you had the ability to get on each other's nerves every time you met without fail and without too much difficulty as well. 

"Well, it's nice to see that they still get along as well as usual... I guess..." Kenji mumbled under his breath, watching as the two of you continued to toss around passive-aggressive insults. 

Mikado grinned became more evident as he looked down at you, tilting his head to the side. "You're a lot more moody than I remember- Ah!"

You arched a brow at him. 

"What is it?" You asked. 

"I know what's got you moody, the two of you broke up recently, am I right?"

You eye twitched.

Not bothering to give it a second thought you brought your foot up before slamming it down on his foot with a small smile dressing your lips. 

"I hope you drop dead as well."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.
> 
> Mikado makes me want to punch him but kiss him so he doesn't feel bad anymore. 
> 
> Rewriting and god damn, this was bad.
> 
> Why did I think it was a good idea to not only make this chapter but make it as boring as this one, basically nothing happens here, I mean, there's nothing wrong with that but eh.


	10. 𝑵𝑰𝑵𝑬 | 𝑳𝑨𝑴𝑬𝑵𝑻𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑶𝑵 𝑴𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑲𝑬𝑺

𝙎𝙐𝙍𝙀**,** 𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙍𝙀 𝙒𝘼𝙎𝙉'𝙏 𝙍𝙀𝘼𝙇𝙇𝙔 𝙋𝙊𝙄𝙉𝙏 𝙄𝙉 𝙄𝙏 𝘽𝙐𝙏 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝘾𝙊𝙐𝙇𝘿𝙉'𝙏 𝙃𝙀𝙇𝙋 𝘽𝙐𝙏 𝘼𝙏 𝙇𝙀𝘼𝙎𝙏 𝙏𝙍𝙔 𝙏𝙊 𝙃𝙀𝙇𝙋 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝘿𝙊 𝙎𝙊𝙈𝙀𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙂.

To say you were less than positive about the sports club you were in and their chances of ever being anything than a low tier that was never going to make it far would be an understatement. 

You had little to no hope in them and considering your lack of faith most would expect you to not really care if the volleyball club just disbanded eventually due to its decreasing membership. 

But you still had a place in your heart for it. 

A sigh left your lips as you ignored the looks you were being given as you made your way through the hallway, looking down at your feet as you muttered under your breath. 

Despite the attention, you were getting from all other students standing around in the hallway you couldn't care less about them the only thing that was on your mind was finding people.

It had been the only thing you could think about since the new school year started and a few eyes on you wasn't going to stop you.

Though that didn't quite stop you from feeling nervous and trying your very best to not shrink over their gazes. 

No matter how much times you were the center of attention it seemed as if you would never get over the nervousness that washed over you that accompanied the attention. 

You thought about your conversation with Kenji and Akihito days earlier about the possibility of the volleyball club disbanding due to the lack of interest and members. 

It wasn't exactly the most positive of conversations but it was still a conversation that had to take place, even if it didn't really end on a positive note either. 

A sigh left your lips as you repeated the conversations in your head. 

Just thinking about it brought down your mood, if only it was as easy to recruit members as it was with the way that you played it out in your head. 

Taking a deep breath you roughly slapped both sides of your cheeks in unison, ignoring the looks you were receiving as you felt your cheeks sting. 

It's not like there was much of a point in wallowing now was there?

Despite your newfound determination, you didn't come across anyone that wanted to join, the moment you approached them it was as if they were already saying no. 

They were free enough to talk to you and hear you out but the moment you brought up even just coming to the gym they would come up with an excuse to leave and some of them would just flat out say no. 

It was definitely not what you wanted to hear but it was something that you were more than use to hear since the start of your time at Iwatobi High School. 

_"No."_

_"Sorry, I'm already in a club."_

_"Wasn't the last time the volleyball club won a game like three years ago?"_

_"Not interested."_

Ruffling your hair with an annoyed groan you kicked at the floor beneath you, narrowing your eyes as you cleared your path in the hallway by unintentionally glaring at basically everyone around you. 

Just the possibility of the club disbanding was something that you didn't want to think about. 

Despite all of the comments about it, attending it and talking to everyone there had become part of your routine, you didn't want to think about what you'd do without it. 

Just as you were about to give, you turned on your heels and spotted a taller student, probably around 175 cm if not taller. 

Your eyes sparkled at the sight. 

He was tall and that was really the only thing that you paid attention to.

Sure, you didn't know if he was in a club or if he knew the first thing about volleyball but the only thing that really mattered to you was finding someone. 

Before you realized it you were right next to him. "Excuse me-"

It seems as if you presence wasn't exactly noticed when you called out to him as he jumped in surprise, doing the same for you in the process. 

"Ah, sorry about that," you apologized, "I didn't mean to surprise you like that." You finished as you crouched down, picking up his book with a sigh, an apologetic frown dressing your lips. 

Without even looking back at you he picked his glasses, sighing softly as he wiped them clean, putting them back on as he turned back to you, mumbling something that you couldn't make out under his breath. 

"If you didn't mean to then why did you do it in the first pla-"

He stopped midsentence, mumbling the last few words as he fixed the glasses on his face. 

A barely visible pale pink blush appeared on his cheeks as he looked away from you, all words seeming to escape him as he searched for something to say. 

You simply tilted your head at his sudden silence and lack of eye contact. "Is there something wrong?" You asked as you took a step closer. 

He suddenly stood up straight at the sudden closing of space between the two of you, surprising you as you held the back in your hand closer to your chest.

"My apologies senpai," he apologized as he gave you a deep bow causing you to fluster at the sight. 

Mostly at the eyes on you as they watched the interaction between you and the younger teen. 

You waved your hands in front of you face as you felt your cheeks burn a deep red. "N-No, it's all my fault, there's no need to apologize to me..."

"Rei Ryuugazaki."

A smile snaked it's way to your lips. "Sorry about that Ryuugazaki, I'm [Y/N] [L/N]."

You looked down at the book in your hands and frowned. 

** _Advanced Marathoning_ **

Yup, he definitely wasn't someone who could join. 

Well, it's not like you were really all that hopeful about finding someone that would actually join.

Despite that, you could help but sigh as you handed the taller teen back his book. "Let me guess, you're not really open to joining the volleyball club, are you?"

"No, I'm sorry about that," he apologized, "But, I'm sure there will be someone who's willing to joi-"

Before he could finish speaking the two of you were interrupted by a familiar voice calling out to you. 

"[N/N]! Literature Club's starting in a few minutes!"

You stiffened as you looked over your shoulder. "I'm comin' Naru, I'll be there in a second!" 

Looking back at the first year you gave him an apologetic smile and a small wave before turning on your heels to catch up with your friend. 

You left him confused as he watched you go with a rosy tint painting his cheeks. 

* * *

They seemed to progress quite a bit since the last time you were there. 

As you walked up to the defunct pool you crouched down, looking at the three as you cracked a small smile at the sight before letting out a small sigh as you got up to leave. 

Just as you turned around to leave you were stopped by someone suddenly appearing in front of you. 

"[Y/N]."

At her sudden appearance, you nearly jumped in surprise.

Kou suddenly appearing out of nowhere was certainly not what you were expecting, especially with the stern expression she was wearing as she looked at you, not daring to even break eye contact. 

In your attempt to break the awkward silence between the two of you, nervous laughter left your lips as you grabbed the back of your head.

"Well, uh, you certainly came out of nowhere Kou, was there something you needed?"

"Can you think of any reason as to why Rin's not really interested in swimming anymore?"

Despite it being a rather simple question you couldn't help but feel nervous, not being able to say any words. It was as if the moment you opened your mouth words would simply vanish. 

Without giving her a second to say anything else you rushed pass her, cutting out all sounds. She might've called out to you but it wasn't something you gave much thought into. 

It just wasn't something you wanted to think about but it always seemed to come up no matter how hard you tried to push it off to the side. 

* * *

"Makoto?"

There he was, it was certainly a surprise to see him out this late, most of the time he would never come out this late unless there was an emergency. 

As far as you knew there wasn't anything wrong, at least nothing you knew of. 

The brunette looked up from the ground and to you, a surprised look on his face before he flashed you a small smile. "Hi, [Y/N], it's a surprise to see you out this late."

You arched a brow. "It's a surprise to see you out this late too."

A set of nervous chuckles left his lips. "Right, I guess I should go home alre-"

"What's wrong Makoto?"

He looked at you for a second in surprise before quickly returning back to his usual smile, waving off your concerns. "What do you mean? There's nothing wro-"

"Makoto."

He stopped talking at the serious tone in your voice. He took a deep breath as he tried to speak, only for you to interrupt him once last time with a comment that surprised him. 

A sigh once again. 

"Makoto, you found out what happened between Rin and Haru, didn't you?"

* * *

_You wouldn't say you were upset, it was more of a feeling of confusion and hurt if anything._

_The sight of Rin running away from you was all you could pay attention to until his figure got smaller and smaller until finally disappearing. _

_"Did I do something wrong?"_

_You couldn't understand what exactly happened. _

_It wasn't as if you did anything wrong, right?_

_A sigh left your lips as you kicked at the ground beneath your feet._

_With everything that just happened you couldn't be in a worse mood, that wasn't exactly what you thought was going to happen when you left home. _

_Staring at the ground you began to feel your eyes water. _

_That was when you heard the sound of soft footsteps hitting the ground enter your ears, blinking away the tears in your eyes you looked up in surprise. _

_"Haru?"_

_That was odd, to say the least._

_You weren't expecting him of all people to be out this late. _

_He stopped at the sound of your voice saying his name, taking a deep breath before looking over his shoulder back at you. It was clear to you that something was wrong. _

_Despite everything, he ignored those feeling and tried his best to hide the feelings of shock and regret. "Hey, [Y/N]."_

_"Haru. Something happened with Rin, right?_

* * *

"Why didn't you or Haru tell me about any of this?" 

For some reason, you couldn't bring yourself to say anything, you opened your mouth only for nothing to come out, you couldn't come up with anything to say. 

You didn't have any excuse to use. 

"We're friends, right?" Makoto added, his voice wavering with every word that left his lips.

"Of course we are Makoto!" You said finally gaining access to your voice. 

You mentally cursed at yourself for the shaking in your voice. 

Despite your attempts to try and comfort him you probably only made him feel worse. 

"I just..." You took a deep breath and tried to calm yourself. 

You didn't want to make yourself any nervous than before and cause Makoto to feel even worse with your poorly formed words.

"I just didn't know how to tell you," you added as you turned your eyes down to your feet. 

A sigh left your lips as you let your shoulders drop, glancing over about him from the corner of your eye. "It took me a while to stop thinking about it and by then I was already drifting away from you guys so I didn't really think I could do that."

You let out a sigh at the look on Makoto's face. "Look, I'm sure that Haru has his own reasonings for not telling you about."

Not knowing what else to say you took a deep breath before turning to him, grabbing his hand with your own. "

You looked at him and you frowned even more as you saw no sign of change in him with your comments. You looked up and let out a deep breath before turning to him and grabbing his hand. 

"Don't worry about it Makoto, Haru definitely has his reasons," you said as you flashed him a smile. "After all, as you said, Haru's your friend, right?"

Makoto looked back at surprise before a small smile found it's way back to his face. "I guess you're right [Y/N]."

Your smile grew at his response, you were more than happy that you were finally able to get a smile out of him even with how bad your attempts were in the first place. 

* * *

"After we toss these in, we're all set!" Miss Amakata said as she passed the members of the newly approved club chlorine tablet. 

"Looks like the swim club is officially official!"

"Yeah, it's just to bad that we can't get into the ye-" 

Before Makoto could even finish speaking he turned his head and was met with the sight of Haru taking off his uniform to reveal his jammers. 

Without even giving anyone a chance to react Haru dived into the pool. 

Your eye twitched at the sight. "Does he always wear those under his clothes?!"

Did he always have those on for whenever he was near any body of water?

"With triceps like those, I'd say he can do whatever he pleases," Kou squealed. 

You could swear she was emitting sparkles as she gushed over Haru's muscles. 

"Just what is the deal with muscles?!" You said in annoyance. 

"Wait a second, is his lips turning purple?" Kou said in concern as she walked up to the edge of the pool. 

"Of course! He's in a pool in the middle of April!"

Makoto nearly jumped in shock as he tried to tell Haru to get out without any success. He was simply ignored by Haru who was most definitely going to get sick if he stayed in there any longer. "Get out of the water! You'll get hypothermia!" 

"C'mon Haru! You can go in later, just get out already!" Your attempts to convince him to get out of the freezing cold pool didn't work in the slightest. 

Despite your and Makoto's attempts to get him out Nagisa began to cheer for Haru, "Go Haru!"

"No, come back you'll die!"

"I'll go find a net so we can fish him out!" Kou said as she ran to the storage room leaving you, Makoto, Nagisa, and Miss Amakata in shock. 

"Wait, a net!"


	11. 𝑻𝑬𝑵 | 𝑨 𝑭𝑨𝑰𝑳𝑬𝑫 𝑹𝑬𝑪𝑹𝑼𝑰𝑻𝑴𝑬𝑵𝑻 𝑺𝑬𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑰𝑶𝑵

𝙄𝙏 𝙒𝘼𝙎 𝙆𝙄𝙉𝘿𝘼 𝘾𝙐𝙏𝙀 𝙃𝙊𝙒 𝙊𝘽𝙎𝙀𝙎𝙎𝙀𝘿 𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙃 𝙒𝘼𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙃𝘼𝙍𝙐 𝙒𝘼𝙎.

Even when the two of you were kids he was obsessed with water, sure, it was weird in the sense let's not get that wrong but the way he acted around it was almost childish in nature.

He would go in the water even when the weather was cold and not good enough for anyone to start swimming. 

You chuckled under your breath as an amused smile curled itself up onto off your lips. 

Well, it was nice to know at least something was never going to change. 

"Ah-Choo!"

Haru obviously got a cold after swimming in an outside pool in April of all times though he would never admit to that. 

You watched in amusement as he continued to deny the fact that he got a cold from swimming in the outdoor pool, it was as if he was almost offended by the idea.

It was quite amusing how he went about certain things, especially when it involved water and swimming. The very idea of water causing him to get sick probably sounded like an insult to his ears. 

Even when he was obviously sick he couldn't help but deny that it was getting into freezing cold water in a time like April that got him sick. 

"It must be Rin who's talking about you," Nagisa told Haru as he cut you out of your thoughts. 

Makoto let out a soft sigh. 

Sure, it was a possibility that was why he was sick but it could've also been the fact that he simply swam in cold water in cold weather. "It's also possible that he just got sick after swimming in the middle of April."

Haru narrowed his eyes as he looked away from the concerned brunette, a pout dressing his features. "I'm not some stupid baby that gets sick that easi-"

A sneeze cut him off from defending himself from Makoto calling him sick. 

You let out a soft sigh as you grabbed the back of your neck, narrowing your eyes as you turned to Haru with an annoyed look on your face. "Haru, you can't just swim in an outside pool in the middle of April without expecting to catch a cold or something."

He turned away from you puffed up cheeks, the tips of his ears burning an almost translucent pale pink. 

You let out a gasp as you puffed up your cheeks, dropping your hands in your lap as you looked at Haru with an offended look. 

Despite the obvious offence you had at him ignoring you he only continued to do so as he began to speak to Makoto and Nagisa and deny getting a cold or even getting sick in general. 

Hm...

_'I guess Haru really hasn't changed that much, huh?'_

"Hey, guess what I head from Gou."

Nagisa's words cut you out from your thoughts as you looked away from Haru and turned your attention to Nagisa and Makoto.

"She told me that Run joined the swim team at Samezuka."

You held back a gasp, covering your mouth with both of your hands, surprised by his words and not wanting to alert anyone of your surprise. 

That wasn't what you had expected to hear. 

After all, when you tried to speak to Rin about swimming and possibly joining a club he always cut you off and changed the subject without a second thought. 

Why would Rin join the swim club after avoiding talking about it for so long? 

You looked down at the floor with downturned eyes. 

It was definitely something that you would need to bring up the next time you and Rin talked to each other, even if you were sure that he would try his best to avoid talking about it. 

Unfortunately, Nagisa seemed to notice the lack of response from both you and Makoto as he looked back and forth between the two of you with a confused look. 

"Mako, [N/N], is there something wrong?"

You looked up in surprise, locking eyes with Makoto before he quickly tore away from your eyes, giving Nagisa a reassuring smile. "It's nothing but since he's on a team there's a chance we'll see him at a tournament."

Looking back at Haru in concern you tilted your head as you opened your mouth to speak only to stop yourself before any of your words would fall off your tongue. 

"Is there something wrong [N/N]?" Nagisa asked. 

Blinking, you nervously looked back at Nagisa and tilted your head as you flashed a nervous smile and brought a hand up to your cheek. "N-Nothing, I'm just glad that Rin decided to join a team. Samezuka's is a powerhouse school after all."

You let out a deep breath and watched in amusement as the conversation quickly turned back to swimming and their plans for the future of their club. 

That was really close. 

You had to be a lot more careful unless you wanted to cause trouble that you wanted to desperately avoid as much as you could. 

* * *

"Well, you've certainly been in a good mood lately."

Looking up from your book you were met with the sight of Naru giving you a small smile as she took a seat in front of you. 

Puffing up your cheeks you looked away as you cheeks began to burn a deep red. "I don't know what you're talking about," you huffed out. 

She chuckled softly as she continued to grin at you, resting her cheek in her palm and twirling a pencil in the other. "Come on, there's no need to play dumb [N/N]."

Kenji arched a brow as he pulled out a chair next to you. "I'm not really sure it's really an act, she's probably she flat out dumb."

Your eye twitched as you stepped on his foot, ignoring his grunt of pain as he pulled his foot away from you, narrowing his eyes at your he glared daggers into you. 

All you did was simply tilt your head and give him a saccharine smile as if you did nothing wrong. "Now, what were you saying Kenji?"

Batting your eyelashes the two of you stared each other down for a good few seconds as the brunette girl watched with a nervous smile. 

It was something she was more than used to but it didn't mean she didn't feel somewhat nervous about it at times. 

"Come on you two, there's no need to get like that-"

Almost immediately the two of you looked away from each other and looked at the girl and narrowed your eyes. "We're not acting any sort of way!"

Of course, it was a bit too much for her to expect for the two of you to actually calm down. If there was anything that the two of you did well together it had to be teaming up against people that put the two of you together. 

"She's happy since she's been talking to Haru again."

It wasn't a lie but that didn't you liked hearing him of all people say that.

Without even a second thought you sat back down and kicked at the taller teen, glaring at him as he ignored you and continued speaking. 

"Really?"

He scoffed. "Of course, she wouldn't smile so much if it wasn't for him." 

A smug smile snaked it's way over to his lips as he turned to face you, resting his cheek in the palm of his hand as he leaned up against the table. 

Just the look on his face was annoying you. 

It had to be a talent with how easily annoyed he could get you, it was beyond you how someone like him was even popular or even liked people in general. 

Scoffing, you turned away from him though not without him noticing the tips of your ears burning a deep red from your embarrassment. 

Letting out a sigh he leaned back into his chair as he folded his arms behind the back of his head, glancing over to give you one more look. 

"See, what did I tell you?"

The brunette opened her mouth to say something but she stopped as she watched the taller teen stand up from his seat, hitting the back of his head with a blank expression. 

"What was that for?!" You glared up at him as you held the back of your head. 

"Can you stop staring in the distance with that goofy smile? It's starting to get creepy." He shivered as he finished. 

Your eye twitched at those words. "If it's creeping you out so much quit looking at me!"

Naru laughed nervously as she watched the interaction between the two of you, playing with her hands nervously as she glanced at Kenji. 

She might've been misheard it or maybe she was just misreading things but she could've sworn there was a hint of bitterness in the brunette's words. 

A sigh left her lips. 

This school year was certainly turning out to be quite interesting even if she wasn't too hopeful for it being a completely relaxing year. 

* * *

**"Talk to you later Naru."**

You waved goodbye to the taller girl as you turned on your heels, disappearing around the corner as you made your way to your to the gym.

Just as you took a step forward you jumped slightly as you watched Haru somehow quickly but lazily slide out of the teacher's office. 

_'I-Is, is he okay?'_

The odd behaviour wasn't something that was too weird especially considering the fact that it was coming from someone like Haru. 

If anything, it was strange that he wasn't acting any weirder. 

You watched in concern as the dark-haired teen approached a duo of first years with his less than stellar social skills as he attempted to recruit. 

It's safe to say that his attempt wasn't exactly successful as his lack of knowledge regarding social cues somewhat hindered his success. 

You grinned nervously at the sight as you walked over to the three members. It was an interesting sight for sure, though you weren't sure that was the best way to go about it. 

"We really are a lost cause if that's the best he can do," Makoto sighed at the attempted by Haru. 

He wasn't expecting much from him but still, he expected something that was a bit more than what he was seeing. 

"So, Haru's really into this, isn't he?"

You laughed in amusement as you watched the brunette jump at your sudden appearance, surprising the rest of the club members as Makoto hid behind Nagisa.

Hearing your fit of laughter Makoto looked up in embarrassment, his cheeks burning a deep red. "Why do you always have to do that?!"

You cleared your throat, putting a stop to your laughter as you replied to the taller teen. "I have no idea what you mean Makoto, but maybe you should do something about him."

They all looked to the direction you were looking at. 

All of you sighed in unison. 

There Haru was, trying to recruit people to join the swim club only to end up scaring them. 

With a deadpanned expression you grabbed the back of your head at the sight you were witnessing. "Him unintentionally scaring people is just going to make more and more people not to even think about the swim club."

* * *

Nagisa tends to not really think about what other people think before pulling them along to do whatever he wanted without any explanation. 

Suffice to say, this was especially true when on your way to the indoor gym for volleyball practice you were stopped by Nagisa who pulled you to the track field without even bothering to explain anything. 

All you could do was let yourself get dragged by him as you wore a deadpanned expression, it was moments like this that made you realize why Nagisa stressed you out at times. 

He's always been like this. 

You didn't have a problem with him or talking with him about things like the swim club but you were still a member of the volleyball club. 

The swim club of all things wasn't exactly the most important thing on your mind. 

Sure, the two of you were friends but you still had to give most of your time to your own club, plus the fact that you had little to nothing to do with the swim club didn't help matters. 

A sigh left your lips. 

With your eye twitching, you held back a groan that you wanted to desperately let out. 

A few more minutes passed of the two of you walking before you decided to finally open your mouth and ask why you were being dragged by Nagisa in the first place. 

"Uh, Nagisa, why am I here exactly?"

He looked over his shoulder and gave you thumbs up alongside a wink. "For moral support of course!"

You simply gave him a blank stare. "That doesn't really help Nagisa."

Of course, he didn't hear you and if he did he was probably ignoring you.

It was something that you would be too shocked to learn if he actually did hear what you were saying. 

Before long the two of you finally made it to the track field and you finally were able to let your arm go free.

"Here we are."

You looked up from the ground with a sigh and the familiar first-year student you first met a few days prior. 

You looked up from the ground and saw the familiar blue-haired first-year boy that you had met a few days prior. You tilted your head with a tired look on your face. "I don't even get why we're here in the first place, I mean, Ryuugazaki is a member of track and field, he can't even join another club if he wanted too."

"It's because he's just like us."

You tilted your head at those words, arching a brow at the first-year teen.

That look only stayed there for a good few seconds before you realized what he really meant by those words. 

"He's a guy with a girly name," Nagisa added with a bit too much confidence. 

You internally facepalmed at those words. 

It was stupid beyond belief to recruit someone to join a club solely due to the fact that their name is usually reserved for girls, it still didn't change the fact that he's a member of a club already. 

And a sports club at that. 

It'd be different if he was a member of a club like literature or art but sports clubs have much more responsibilities, he'd never had time to join as a member of another sports club. 

"Kou, can you tell them to-"

You watched in shock as Kou's expression changed from slight annoyance and surprise to joy as she watched at Rei, observing him as she started to practically exude sparkles. 

"His deltoids are pretty incredible."

"His muscles shouldn't be the reason for him joining a club," you sighed as you ran your fingers through your hair. "And like I've said multiple times, he's already a member of the track and field club so he can't join even if he wanted to."

They all continued to ignore you as she, Makoto, and Nagisa began to talk about Rei and the swim club just leaving you annoyed as you groaned under your breath. 

Your eye twitched. 

_'What was even the point of me being here if they aren't going to listen to a single thing that I say?'_

* * *

You waved down the younger girl as you ran up to her, flashing her a small smile. "Hey, Kou."

The taller girl paused in her stride, looking over her shoulder in surprise before quickly returning your smile, waiting for you to catch up with her. 

Despite only knowing each other for a little while the two of you seemed to become fast friends and talking to each other almost every day despite being in different years. 

If you were being honest there was a part of you that started to talk to her to try and get to know more about Rin and how things were in junior high. 

But she was still surprisingly nice to talk to if it wasn't for her looks you would've never believed her being Rin's younger sister of all people. 

"So, has anything interesting happened with the club lately?"

Almost immediately, her face lit up at your question as she excitedly explained everything, it was something that she couldn't help but talk about. 

With a small smile on your face, you chuckled softly to yourself. 

It was cute how excited she was to tell you about everything. 

"Hey, Kou, do you think it'd be okay if I attended the joint practice with Samezuka?" 

They still talked about how off Rin's been but even with the change that you saw, nothing he said or did was to the level that they described. 

Maybe if you went to someplace where he'd have to interact with them maybe then you'd be able to see the attitude they've been talking about after wondering about it for so long. 

Even though you wouldn't say you thought they were lying there was still a bit of disbelief that you felt every time you heard their words. 

"Huh?"

The younger girl simply tilted her head. "Is there a reason why?" She asked in confusion. 

You laughed nervously. 

It wasn't as if you could really blame her for being confused, it was kind of out of nowhere and you haven't really shown too much interest in the club, well, at least not to the level of attending practices. Especially not a practice with another school. 

"Well, it is the first time Makoto, Nagisa, and Haru are going to be swimming together as a team since primary school, so I just thought it'd be nice to see them swim." You explained with a small smile on your face.

It was the best excuse that you could come up with. 

You could only hope that it was a believable excuse that she would go along with. 

Plus, it wasn't as if it was a lie, it was something that you were interested in seeing, it just wasn't the main reason for wanting to attend the practice. 

Thankfully, Kou agreed, nodding her head as she told you it was alright to come, after all, there wouldn't be any problem with you joining them at the joint practice. 

You sighed in relief as you smiled to yourself softly.

Despite telling yourself that you didn't care if you could go or not hearing her saying you could go was something you were more glad to hear than you should've. 


	12. 𝑬𝑳𝑬𝑽𝑬𝑵 | 𝑨 𝑳𝑬𝑺𝑺 𝑻𝑯𝑨𝑵 𝑰𝑫𝑬𝑨𝑳 𝑶𝑼𝑻𝑪𝑶𝑴𝑬

"𝘼𝙍𝙀 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝘼𝙉 𝘼𝘾𝙏𝙐𝘼𝙇 𝙄𝘿𝙄𝙊𝙏?"

You turned your head down, looking down at your feet with a nervous smile as you listened to your brunette friend rip into you rather deservedly. 

It really wasn't something that you could get mad with, sure, it wasn't something that you were the biggest fan of. 

Who would actually like being called an idiot, after all?

But it wasn't as if you could really blame him for his ranting, you had problems even thinking about talking to them and now you were going to an actual joint practice with them. 

You let out a deep sigh as you buried your head in your knees. 

For someone that wasn't that was supposed to be smart you sure made quite a bit of stupid mistakes, plus the fact that you continued to go through with your stupid mistakes even after realizing how stupid your choices were. 

Ugh, you could just feel the look of disappointment Kenji was giving you through the phone, the silence was starting to get suffocating. 

An awkward smile snaked its way to your lips. 

"Could you mince your words just a bit-"

"No."

You pulled your phone away from your ear almost immediately, staring down at your phone with a shocked expression on your face, your mouth wide open as your eyes were wide as could be. 

"And why not?" You asked though you already knew the answer that would fall from his lips. 

There was a moment of silence though you could just see the raised eyebrow Kenji was giving you, as if he was asking if you were actually being serious with your question. 

"Well?" You asked. "Are you going to say something or no?"

He let out a deep groan as loud rustling could be heard in the background as he moved around, most likely so he could find somewhere comfortable to judge you through his phone. 

"It's because you're an idiot who makes impulse decisions and for some reason goes through with them even if they are absolutely terrible ideas-"

"But-"

"Like terrible to the point that it's beyond belief, I honestly cannot believe that you're actually the class representative with how stupid you are sometimes."

Your eye twitched at his words. 

he definitely didn't hold back and that was especially true whenever it came to you, it was as if his life's mission was to constantly call you an idiot with how much he did it. 

"Maybe I am an idiot-"

"You definitely are."

Ugh, couldn't he give you just a minute to speak before he had to interrupt you with another insult that you've heard more times than you could count in the past few minutes? 

You literally just admitted to the possibility fo you being an idiot and all he could do was say that. 

A deep sigh left your lips as you banged your head back against the wall, ignoring the sound of something falling as you opened your mouth to speak. 

"Like I was saying, I might be an idiot but if I want to get things "normal" again, then I'm going to have to do things like this." You sighed out. 

It wasn't like you wanted to deal with it, if anything you wanted to avoid it as much as humanly possible but that wasn't exactly possible due to how everything was. 

You could either ignore the awkward parts of everything and deal with there constantly being a gap between you or you could step outside of your comfort zone and do something. 

Of course, you wanted to stay inside your comfort zone but after much deliberation with yourself, you made the decision to just go. 

After all, you already asked Kou and she did say it was fine with you going. If you came up with a lame excuse for why you couldn't go all it would do was raise questions with the younger girl. 

"Fine," he sighed out. 

You looked up with a shocked look on your face, your eyes as wide as saucers and your mouth slightly agape. 

That was certainly not what you were expecting, even with all of the soft insults he was spewing you still didn't expect him to "let you go". 

Blinking slowly, you let a breath out as you leaned back and relaxed. 

If there was anything you wanted to hear more in the world that had to be it. 

To think that something that simple would help you to relax. 

"Don't get it twisted though, this isn't changing the fact that I still think you're a complete idiot with little to common sense and awareness about anything."

You flinched. 

Ah, of course. 

Why weren't you surprised in the slightest?

* * *

"Ah, this place is a lot bigger and crowded than I thought it would be," you whispered under your breath as you looked up with wide eyes. 

You unconsciously grabbed Kou's sleeve as you moved behind her, looking over her shoulder with narrowed eyes. 

It's been a while since you've been around so many people, well, at least around so many people in such close proximity. You couldn't help but feel nervous. 

The number of people was a shock to you but at the same time wasn't something that should've surprised you. Samezuka has always been a powerhouse school with their swim club. 

Having a pretty big team like Samezuka had was something that should've been expected, but that didn't mean you still didn't feel nervous around everyone. 

"Was Samezuka's team always this big?" You directed towards no one in particular. 

Kou simply tilted her head as she looked down at you with a curious look on her face. "Hm? What do you mean by that?" She asked. 

You looked up with an embarrassed look on your face, your face started to heat up as you realized she had heard the words that escaped your lips. 

Letting go of her with a quick motion you hid your hands behind you back and looked up at her with a flustered smile finding it's way to your face. 

"Nothing, don't worry about it Ko-"

You quickly realize that the younger girl didn't hear any of your words as you looked at her to see her staring at the members of the Samezuka Swim Club with absolutely no shame. 

It was impossible for you to not get embarrassed now, it was amazing how she was not getting embarrassed with how open she was with her staring. 

Your eye twitched. 

"Are muscles seriously the only thing you think about?!" You asked her in an annoyed voice as you brought your hand down on the top of her head.

"What was that for?" She whined. 

"You know exactly what that's for!"

The younger girl continued to whine as you scolded her, not bothering to even look in the direction of any of the swimmers that filled the room. Your opinion on her was severely changing at an extremely fast pace. 

Feeling eyes on you, you glanced to your side from the corner of your eye to see Rin looking into your direction. You stopped yourself from doing anything when you saw him narrow his eyes at the others. 

His gaze was focused on Haru in particular who had stopped caring about the conversation that he was once part of, gazing distantly as he stood still. 

You let out a sigh. 

Maybe they were right about everything, with everything that has happened so far and how Rin was acting in the few minutes that you've seen him. He really was a lot more different than you thought he really was. 

Even with everything you couldn't help but get confused with his behaviour, the feeling was even more present as Rin noticed your eyes on him and turned away.

Kou followed the direction you were staring at as you let out a soft sigh. A smile curled upon her lips as she waved at the older Matsuoka, leaving your side as she went to greet him.

"Hey there Rin!"

Nagisa approached Rin only to be met with a cold response as the taller teen walked away. He didn't even let the shorter boy say much if anything leaving him disappointed. 

You thought that things were going to be alright but after putting into considerations his attitude towards Nagisa and even his younger sister you were severely [doubting](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/facebook/000/023/021/e02e5ffb5f980cd8262cf7f0ae00a4a9_press-x-to-doubt-memes-memesuper-la-noire-doubt-meme_419-238.jpg) that. 

"What's with that guy's attitude?" Rei asked. 

Makoto let out a sigh as he watched Rin's back as he walked away. "Let's just say there's some history there," Makoto said. He wasn't ignoring his question but he wasn't exactly answering him either. 

You looked up at Makoto and arched a brow. "Well, that's certainly one way to put it..." You mumbled as you buried your hands into your pockets.

"Hm? What do you mean by that [Y/N]-senpai?" 

_'Crap, he heard me.'_

You were really getting bad at hiding your thoughts, weren't you?

Though the fact that you said your words out loud wasn't really helping you with keeping your thoughts to yourself like you would've hoped. 

"I- Uh, Rei what stroke do you swim again?" You said in response as you tried to change the subject, keeping your nervous laughter in as you waited for a response from him. 

Rei shifted as he avoided looking you in the eye. "Well, I don't reall-"

"He isn't going to be swimming today so that really doesn't matter!" 

You gave the two first-years incredulous looks as you crossed your arms across your chest, you were more than suspicious about everything. It was clear to you that he wasn't telling you the complete truth but you gave up asking any more questions. 

It was obvious that neither Rei nor Nagisa were going to tell you anything. 

Despite the compromise with Rei that all he had to do was show up and not swim at all he was still pushed into the locker room by Niitori to change. 

Well, that certainly is a change of plans. 

* * *

Nervous laughter left your lips as you looked the first-year track member up and down, your lips curled up into a nervous grin. 

You had no idea what to say. You wanted to laugh but you didn't want to make the younger teen anymore embarrassed than he already was. 

"We made a deal and you're definitely not holding up your end of the bargain!"

_'Uh... Was a speedo really the only other thing that they had left?'_

You turned your head as you brought a hand up to your mouth to muffle laughter. 

"[N/N], are you alright?" Kou asked. 

"Ah, nothing!" Without waiting for anyone else to say anything you turned to Rei with a nervous smile. Your attempt to help him relax didn't really help as much as you wanted it to. To be honest you wouldn't be all that shocked if all you did was make him even more nervous. 

"Don't worry about it too much okay, Ryuugazaki?"

Rei turned around as his cheeks were dusted with a pale pink blush. "I just think it's really embarrassing for you to see me in this state," he murmured. 

"Are you really all that nervous to show that much skin or something?" 

His cheeks began to burn even more as he turned his head up, not being able to even look at you. "That's not exactly what I meant but now that I think about it I might be nervous about that as well."

You watched as Makoto and Nagisa took their own turns diving into the water up until it was Rei's turn on the starting block. He was so nervous that it was starting to get you nervous yourself. 

"He's got beautiful form," Makoto said as he watched the first-year get ready to dive. 

"True," you titled your head. "But don't you think he looks a bit too stiff?"

_'I know he's a member of track and field but he looks like he's about to run rather than swim.'_

"Hey, Makoto?"

"Huh?" Makoto looked at you to see the nervous look on your face, your eyebrow twitching as you continued to keep your eyes on the younger teen. 

"Ryuugazaki can swim, right?" You finished.

You received your answer almost immediately as you watched Rei sink to the bottom as if he was a stone being thrown into the body of water. 

* * *

That wasn't really how you expected things to go even if he was a member of track he still lived in Iwatobi. You'd think that someone from a fishing town like Iwatobi would know how to swim. 

Unfortunately, that seemed to not be the case with Rei. 

"If you can't swim you should've just said so Ryuugazaki," you said to the younger teen as you crouched down with your hands on your knees. 

Honestly, you should've known there was something wrong with Rei considering how nervous he was acting from the moment he took a step through the doors. 

You expected something to be wrong but you expected the reason to be a lot less troublesome. After all, he's a first-year going to practice for a club that he wasn't even a real member of.

Him not being able to swim was not at all what you had expected to be the reason behind his nervous and odd behaviour. 

Furrowing your brows you frowned slightly to see your comments had little to no effect on Rei.

That was certainly disappointing even though you didn't really try all that hard to comfort the younger teen. 

"Oh look it's Haru's turn," you let out a small sigh of relief as Makoto was able to redirect Rei's attention to Haru as he stood at the starting block.

Well, that was certainly a relief.


	13. 𝑻𝑾𝑬𝑳𝑽𝑬 | 𝑳𝑬𝑨𝑹𝑵𝑰𝑵𝑮...?

"𝙄 𝙒𝙊𝙉𝘿𝙀𝙍 𝙃𝙊𝙒 𝙄𝙏'𝙎 𝙋𝙊𝙎𝙎𝙄𝘽𝙇𝙀 𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙏 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙏𝙒𝙊 𝙊𝙁 𝙐𝙎 𝘼𝙍𝙀 𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍 𝙍𝙀𝙇𝘼𝙏𝙀𝘿, 𝙁𝙊𝙍𝙂𝙀𝙏 𝘽𝙀𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙎𝙄𝘽𝙇𝙄𝙉𝙂𝙎."

Even though you were on the phone and you couldn't see him you could already feel his glare on you and his grip on his phone tighten. 

It wasn't like it was that hard to really notice, he's always been extremely easy to read. He was like an open book, that was for children that also came in audiobook format. 

"What is that supposed to mean?" He asked.

The annoyance in his voice was as clear as day, he wasn't even trying to hide it at this point of the conversation. He was really trying hard to come off as mature too. 

Oh well, it's not like you really expected much out of him of all people.

You let out a sigh as you leaned your head back into the wall. "I'm talking about the terrible advice that you gave me about dealing with things."

After thinking about his advice a little while more you came to the conclusion that it was indeed among the worse advice that you've ever gotten from him. That was saying quite a bit considering that most of his advice came from psychics that he hired off of Fiverr and daily horoscope readings that he found in his newspaper. 

"It wasn't that bad, was it?"

"Nope. It was, in fact, it was absolutely terrible."

"Oh, shut it already."

* * *

The talk with him went on for a few more hours as the two of flung insults back and forth until you came back around to the same insults. 

While you didn't want to admit it his talk was able to help you calm down about everything just a little bit though if you knew that it would keep you up then you wouldn't have gone on with it. 

You weren't even sure why you were even attending their practice when you were not only tired to the point of dozing off every few second but also weren't even in the club. 

Sitting down next to Miss Amakata with a bored look on your face you leaned your cheek into your palm. Makoto was trying to teach Rei how to swim the backstroke with little to no success. 

Rei really didn't know how to swim, you didn't think it was possible for someone to be so bad at swimming. 

The moment that Makoto let go of Rei he sunk to the bottom of the pool like a rock in only seconds. It was almost laughable how bad he was. 

It was really shocking how bad he was at swimming. Living in a place like Iwatobi you would expect him to be able to float at the very least. 

You wanted to say something but considering how much in shock you were the thought of accidentally saying something rude was keeping you from opening your mouth. You were more than sure that you were going to say something that wouldn't help in the slightest. 

It just didn't make sense. 

How was it even possible for him to not even be able to swim forward? Was that even physically possible?

_'I honestly have no idea what to say anymore.'_

"[N/N], what are you doing here in the first place?" Kou asked as she made your way over to you, taking a seat next to you as she tilted her head in confusion. "Don't you have volleyball practice?"

Yeah, just what were you doing? You had much more important things to do than watch Rei sink every few seconds. 

Glancing up at the younger girl you let out a long sigh. "That idiot Kenji got into another fight with one of the boys that were skipping practice so practice has been cancelled," you glanced to the side. "Again."

He just didn't know to stop himself. There wasn't even a point in doing any of that extra things when it wasn't really going to make much if any difference.

Looking back to Rei and what seemed like his ninety-fifth failed attempt at swimming you let out a disappointed sigh. "I just thought watching your guy's practice would make me feel a bit better. It hasn't really worked considering how bad Ryuugazaki is at swimming."

If anything it was just making you feel worse than ever before. 

"This is a complete disaster."

* * *

You listened to the falling rain as you leaned back onto your palms and listened to the others try and come up with explanations for why he couldn't swim. 

As expected, they were absolutely terrible.

It made you question if they were truly high school students with the things that they were saying. You were sure that you've heard junior high students be more logical than they were being. 

"The water doesn't like him," Haru said as he narrowed his eyes at Rei.

You felt your eye twitch at his explanation, though you had to admit it wasn't hard to believe coming from Haru. You still wished he would've said something that would actually make sense to most people. 

"Ugh," you mussed up your hair in annoyance. "You're not helping Haru" you looked at him in tired disbelief still not quite understanding how that was supposed to help anything considering that he's supposed to help find out the reason why he can't swim. 

_'I get that he loves swimming and water and all that but how is that suppose to help Rei learn what's stopping him from being able to swim.'_

"It's very unfortunate."

"That can't possibly be the real reason."

You let out a sigh as you listened to the possible, though highly unlikely, reasons that Rei might not be good at swimming that the others came up.

_'These reasons can't possibly be the reason why Ryuugazaki can't swim.'_

After a minute or so more of the others randomly spouting out explanations for why Rei wasn't able to swim. Which were can I say a bit ridiculous_,._He finally spoke up by claiming that all he needed was a proper coach to swim circles around the others. 

There was a long silence that engulfed the room until Makoto opened his mouth surprising you, "I might know someone!"

* * *

"Look, I'm thrilled but a sinking ship is a sinking ship. I'm not a miracle worker." 

_'Well that's certainly comforting'_

Couldn't he have minced his words just a little bit?

"With all due respect, I'm far from a sinking ship," you looked up and turned your head towards Rei after you dropped your head in disappointment. "A more accurate analogy would be to refer to me as a submarine"

Your eye twitched. 

"He just called you hopeless and all you have an issue with is the analogy he used!" You had no idea what to think, you came because you wanted to learn why Rei couldn't swim but all you got was more confused and more reasons as to why you shouldn't even bother with them.

Coach Sasabe took in everything the others said but eventually left. After all, he wasn't really a coach anymore, he was just a pizza delivery man now. 

Overall, the meeting at Haru's place to find out why Rei can't swim ended in complete failure. All you got was Coach Sasabe describing Rei as being hopeless and the others adding more unbelievable reasons for him not being able to swim.

The meeting left you with little to absolutely no hope for Rei being able to swim and a state of confusion that was beyond belief. 

* * *

While on your way back to the indoor gym after filling up a few water bottles you happened to run into Kou who was on her way back to the others. 

It was after speaking to her you found out the issue that Rei came up with regarding why he could swim. 

Considering the fact that Rei's a smart person you thought he would've come up with a smart solution that would've made sense. 

Of course, that wasn't what you got. 

Much to your disappointment, you found out from the younger teen that he claimed to not be able to swim because of his choice of attire of all things. 

Yup, she was being serious. 

To think that you never thought you could be so disappointed to the point that you were actually sad about it. 

Just what was the correlation between swimwear and the ability to swim?

As far as you were concerned what you wore in a pool had little to no effect on your ability to not drown in a body of water. That was not the case with Rei.

You let out a sigh. 

"Well, I guess I'll see you guys at the mall tomorrow."

There was no way you were going to miss out on what Rei was going to tell when you asked him about how he came up with the solution to his problem. 


	14. CHAPTER THIRTEEN | SHOPPING

You stared up at the roof of the train with your hand gripping the silver handrail on the right of you shutting out the conversation between the swim club as you began to think about the possibility of Rei not only being able to swim but able to be good enough to qualify for any upcoming tournaments. 

You were stressed and thinking about everything going on with the swim club didn't help whatsoever. 

You let out a long sigh.

You looked down at your phone and looked down at the very message that was the source of much of your stress at the moment. It was a text from Rin telling you that he was going to the very mall that you and the others were going to go with the rest of his team to buy new swimsuits. 

You had no idea what to think, after all, there was a strong possibility that Rin could run into Haru and the others and considering how he's acted in every encounter with them you didn't have high hopes for a possible encounter between Rin and the others.

You were worried that any interaction that Rin and Haru had would end up with both of them quitting swimming once again. They wouldn't admit that they had an impact on each other but it was obvious to you that the only reason they both started swimming again was because of each other. 

_'I just hope we don't run into Rin'_

* * *

You sat down watching the team try on several swimsuits with amusement before your patience began to slowly wear. It was fine for the first fifteen minutes but after an hour of watching them change into even more swimsuits, it started to get a bit boring and annoying to just sit down and watch them change. 

It was nice that Rin hasn't come by but that doesn't mean you didn't want anything to happen. I mean just watching them change into swimsuits that they weren't going to buy got boring pretty fast. 

Finally getting to the point where you couldn't sit down and wait for Haru anymore you stood up and walked over to Makoto, Rei, and Nagisa who were at the register paying for their items. It wouldn't be that big a deal if you left Haru alone, right? I mean you were there for fifteen minutes and nothing happened so leaving Haru alone wouldn't be the end of the world. 

You ran up to Makoto and the others greeting them, just missing a certain Samezuka swimmer who had entered the changing room next to Haru. 

* * *

You looked at the magenta eyes staring at you. You had a nervous smile on your face that was as stiff at your body, you didn't know what to say. You were scratching your head at Nagisa staring intensely with an unusually serious expression on his face. 

You were left alone with Nagisa while Makoto left the two of you to get the food that the three of you had ordered while waiting for Haru and Kou to meet up with the three of you again. You smiled at Nagisa and when you opened your eyes you were caught off guard by Nagisa looking at you intensely only inches away from your face, you felt your cheeks burn up at the sudden closeness. 

He staring didn't let up so in response you puffed up your cheeks and returned his intense stare. You began to take in his features and began to think about how much he's changed since the two of you were children. His large magenta eyes and wavy honey blonde hair looked the same as it looked when he was younger but it seemed to fit, his young features were complemented by his boyish charms. After a few seconds of staring at him, your staring started to lose its intensity when your eyes began to lose its edge and soften as the words of a certain waitress began to pop into your head. 

_"They certainly have gotten a lot handsome, haven't they?" _

_"You know you're always around them so maybe the plot of a reverse harem shoujo manga will play out and they'll all fall in love with you, after all, you're a pretty girl [Y/N]." _

Your [e/c] eyes widened as you began to repeat the teasing words in your head. You began to fan your face with your hand as you began to fell your cheeks heat up. Nagisa looked at you with an amused smile watching as you began to shift in your seat, your [e/c] orbs exploring the rest of the crowded food court avoiding his gaze. 

"Are you hot? Because I definitely am!" you paled, "I didn't mean that I think you're hot appearance wise I meant are you hot when it comes to body temperature"

Your jaw dropped at your comment, "N-Not that I don't think you're attractive because you are- Ugh, I didn't mean that either I just meant..."

Nagisa continued to look at you amused, having long since dropped his intense stare. He was quite amused by the sight of you in your flustered sight, he didn't anticipate your reaction to his staring to be so amusing. 

"So you get what I mean, right Nagisa-" 

"You're really pretty [N/N]-chan."

All the colour drained from your face. 

"I mean you've always been pretty but I think now you're really pretty, I mean it makes sense why you're so popular..." 

You couldn't process anything he said after what he interrupted you with. He was so blunt. He just came out and said he thought you were pretty like it was nothing, you had no idea how he was able to say something like that without being embarrassed. 

You probably would've caught on fire by all the compliments coming out of Nagisa's mouth if it wasn't for Makoto arriving along with Haru and Kou with all of the food that you guys ordered. 

"Sorry I took forever, I just found Haru and Kou so I- Huh? [Y/N]-chan is there something wrong?" 

"N-No I just- Uh, I mean I," you didn't know what to say so you just picked up the medium-sized coke on the grey tray to shut yourself up. 

"It's nothing Mako, we were just talking about how pretty [N/N]-chan is," Nagisa answered in place of you. 

You slumped into your seat and shut your eyes tightly trying to ignore his comments as you felt your cheeks start to heat up once again. 

* * *

The next day you learned about the confrontation between Rin and Haru from Kou who had eavesdropped on the interaction between the two. You couldn't help but cringe as you thought back to the confrontation that she had described, you thought that everything would've been fine and that they wouldn't run into each other but obviously you were proven wrong. 

You were walking out of the gym, practice having run late when you decided to visit the pool. You didn't expect to see anyone, after all, even Haru probably wouldn't stay too late at school just to swim in the pool but you were surprised when you walked up the pool and heard the sound of water splashing and rough motions break through the water. 

You expected to see Haru only to be surprised by Rei being in the water. You approached the pool where he was standing, he was mumbling out his confusion at the lack of progress that he made occasionally mumbling out obscenities that you never expected to come out of his mouth. 

You crouched down and looked down at the wet blue mop of hair with a smile, "Well, you're certainly working hard, aren't you Ryuugazaki-kun?" 

He looked up quickly with wide eyes surprised at your appearance, water splashing onto you with his rough motion. 

"[Y/N]-senpai! I-I didn't see you there!" 

You smiled back at him in response, "So, have you gotten any progress with the swimming so far?" 

He paused before looking down at your question, "I haven't gotten past floating..." he said after much hesitance. 

Your smile dropped as you looked down at his head, "It's okay that you aren't getting that far with swimming yet, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it soon," he looked up at you as you tried to comfort him. 

You took a deep breath and looked him in the eye with a smile, "I might not swim anymore but I do know that anyone that has the passion that you have will be able to swim, even if it's rough and not what you would describe as beautiful from a technical point of view I've always thought that seeing someone that is passionate about swimming will always be beautiful because you can just see their love for swimming when they're in the water."

You looked back down at Rei as you finished your small speech the look of awe on his face caused your face to heat up in embarrassment as you began to realize that you went off on some sort of tangent while trying to comfort him. 

"S-Sorry about that Ryuugazaki-kun I didn't really mean to go off like that I just tend to do that when I'm talking about swimming,"

Rei shook his head dismissing your apology before looking up at you with newfound determination, "There's no need to apologize [Y/N]-senpai it was just what I needed to hear," he smiled at you, "Thank you [Y/N]-senpai"

"Y-You're welcome Ryuugazaki-kun," you whispered out as he pulled down his goggles and began to practice his swimming once again. You smiled as you watched him practice his swimming with newfound energy that you couldn't help but smile at. 

* * *

"So, [Y/N]... Why exactly are you coming to our practice?" Nagisa asked you as he tilted his head. 

You gave him a smile as you walked up the stairs to the pool with a bounce in your step that seemed to grow as you spotted a certain blue-haired teen and his rough motions in the pool. 

"Rei?" 

You smiled as you heard Nagisa say Rei's name out in surprise, shocked that he was actually swimming. You watched as he began another lap swimming butterfly, a small smile on your face as you listened to the others cheer him on. 

"It's really rough but I think that's the most beautiful butterfly I've ever seen Ryuugazkai-kun." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a.n.
> 
> sorry i know i usually post twice a week i've just been really busy with school : ' (
> 
> so we finally got some romance, the scene with nagisa seemed like a romance scene but i'm not sure if the scene with rei is really romantic
> 
> please comment your thoughts if you want to! ; )


	15. CHAPTER FOURTEEN | TALKING

You sat down next to Makoto across from Haru on the soft blue seat pillows that circled around the small table. You were studying, trying to ignore the awkward atmosphere that filled the room, listening to the sound of page-turning and pencil scratching coming from Makoto and Haru. 

You felt like you could go crazy from the silence. Thankfully the awkward silence was interrupted by Makoto slamming his notebook shut and standing up. You looked up at the taller male in confusion while Haru continued to look down at the book sitting in front of him. You tilted your head to the side slightly trying to ask him what exactly he was doing. His interrupting was welcomed but it still came out of nowhere. 

After a few seconds of standing without saying anything Makoto's cheeks suddenly exploded with a crimson blush finally noticing the holes you were burning into him. 

"S-Sorry about that," Makoto chuckled nervously, brushing the back of his head, "I'm just going to go get us something drink, okay?" 

Before you could respond Makoto quickly left you and Haru to get something to drink. The atmosphere felt even more awkward than it already did. Since hanging out with Makoto and the others your relationship with the others has been getting better and it was quite easy considering how open Makoto, Nagisa, and Rin were with you but when it came to Haru you could barely move when the two of you were alone. You just couldn't bring yourself to even talk to Haru. 

It wasn't even Haru's fault. You just couldn't bring yourself to say anything to Haru, after all, the whole reason why you stopped hanging out with Haru and the others was because of an argument that you had with Haru in middle school. Though to be honest it was more of you just complaining about things that Haru had no control of. 

You let out a long sigh, placing down your pencil as you thought back to the argument you had with the blue-eyed boy. 

"If there something you need to say just say it." 

You immediately looked up from the table and turned your head to Haru who was looking down at his book. You rest your chin in your right hand as you rested your eye on his figure. You let out a soft sigh and spoke barely above a whisper. 

"It's not like anything I could say would change anything"

"So what did you guys talk about?" 

You immediately sat up straight at the sound of Makoto's mouth and turned away from Haru instead of deciding to dig your nose inside of your book as you pretended to read the words that were barely able to be read at how close you were. 

Makoto sat down next to you and looked back at forth between you and Haru. He tipped his head to the side in confusion at the weird way you were acting. 

"It's nothing don't worry about it"

Hearing Haru's voice and his blunt monotone words, you frowned still hiding your face behind your book as you stared down at the table with a frown.

* * *

You stared down at your feet as you walked beside Makoto thinking about Haru. You didn't know what to think of Haru. It was hard to tell what Haru was thinking, he almost always had the same look on his face no matter what and you had no idea how Haru was feeling, with Makoto, Rin, and Nagisa it was easy to tell how they were feeling and it was easy to become friends with them again but when it came to Haru you couldn't tell how he felt, as far as you knew he only put up with you because you were friendly with Makoto and Nagisa. 

"What's wrong?" 

You stopped in your steps at the sound of how worried Makoto sounded, you turned your head and saw Makoto looking at you in concern. 

"Was it really that obvious?"

"Well, you have been sighing for the past ten minutes," Makoto chuckled, scratching his cheek giving you a soft smile. 

"Seriously?" you sighed out, continuing to walk keeping your eye down at your feet. 

_I thought I could finally talk to Haru but I just ended up looking like an idiot. I can't believe I-_

"-Right [Y/N]-chan?" you looked up at Makoto before quickly turning away to avoid eye contact with him. 

He let out a long sigh. You weren't listening to him at all. He felt his fist clench up as he looked at you and saw how lost in your thoughts you were, it was obvious that you were thinking about Haru. He didn't know what happened between the two of you but he did know that you were desperate to just talk to the stoic teen. 

He took a deep breath and chuckled softly as he gave you a small smile that you failed to notice. You were thinking about your embarrassing conversation if you can even call it that, with Haru when your thoughts came to a halt when you felt someone ruffling your hair. 

You turned to the side and saw Makoto giving you a small smile while gently patting the top of your head. 

"You shouldn't worry about it [Y/N]-chan," Makoto told you with a comforting smile, "I'm sure Haru isn't mad at you"

"Thanks, Makoto," you smiled at Makoto, "Sorry I guess I've been overthinking things" 

"Looks like we're already at your place," you said as you looked up at the house in front of you, the lights coming from inside illuminating the home.

"I guess I should get goi-"

"Welcome home Makoto! Oh, hi [Y/N]-chan," you were interrupted by the kind voice belonging to a familiar older woman. 

You turned away from Makoto and saw an older woman with long dark hair greet you and Makoto with a kind smile. 

"Tachibana-san! It's nice to see you," you greeted the older woman, giving her a smile. 

You gave her an apologetic smile and scratched the back of your head, "It's getting late so I guess I'll get going now"

"Since it is getting late why don't you just come in," she wasn't letting up and despite how sweet her smile looked on the outside you couldn't help but feel intimidated by the older woman. 

"I jus-"

**"[Y/N]-nee!!"**, you were interrupted midsentence by the voices of a young boy and girl running out from behind their mother and latching onto both of your arms.

"Welcome back!" they both exclaimed pulling on your arms, looking up at you with their big eyes and wide smiles. 

"It's nice to see you again Ren, Ran" you smiled softly at the two, softly patting the top of their heads. 

"Are you staying for dinner?" Ran's perky and cheerful voice asked. 

"Well, I'm-" 

You looked down at the two and froze for a few seconds before turning, their big eyes stared at you as if trying to convince you to stay. Your eyes were shut tightly as you tried to ignore the two and their cute puffed up cheeks and big eyes. 

After a few seconds of refusing to give in to their puppy dog eyes, you looked back at them and gave up immediately no longer able to hold out any longer. 

"Fine, I give up," you said slumping your shoulders, disappointed at how quickly you gave up and how easily you were convinced, "I'll stay"

Hearing the muffled laughter of Makoto made you feel even more disappointed as you ignored the two children pulling on your arms. 

* * *

You looked down at Ren, who was sitting in your lap as he began to rub his eyes and murmur out words that you could barely hear. 

After a few minutes, Ren and Ran were knocked out cold, the sound of their soft snores and murmuring filling the room. You felt your eyelids grow heavy as you started to doze off, Ren and Ran's soft snores lulling you to sleep. 

"What exactly happened between you and Haru?"

You looked up at Makoto in surprise, careful not to wake up the younger boy in your lap.

You didn't know what to say. His question left you completely speechless. You opened your mouth to speak but quickly closed it, not being able to say anything in response to him and his question. 

You looked away and furrowed your eyebrows. The hair that framed your face hide your face from the view, you thought that it would prevent Makoto from seeing your face and noticing how you felt but it was obvious to Makoto how you were feeling.

You felt Makoto softly stroke your hair in the kind manner that you associated with him. You looked up at him and you felt your cheeks heat up at the sight you were greeted with, he was a few inches away from your face looking at you with a kind and comforting smile. 

"Haru doesn't hate you," he said in a soft voice, "In fact, I would say it's more of the opposite"

"Huh?" 

He chuckled softly careful not to wake his younger siblings, "I mean I don't know much about what happened between the two of you but I do know that after what happened between you two Haru became more gloomy than he usually is" 

You looked at Makoto surprised at everything he was saying, you were so focused on how you thought Haru should've have felt that you never thought about how Haru actually felt. 

You wanted to say something but hearing Makoto's soft and relaxing voice you felt yourself starting to slip to sleep, your eyelids started to get heavier as he continued to speak. You tried your best to keep your eyes open but you were quickly lulled to sleep by Makoto's voice. 

"I would say that Haru likes you as much as I like you," Makoto nervously chuckled. 

He was about to question the silence from you when he suddenly was met with you rest your head on his shoulder. He looked down at you and gave you a small smile as he started to feel his eyelids grow heavy, forgetting about the questions he asked as he rested his head on yours. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> makoto is a soft boi 
> 
> don't forget to stan him 
> 
> what happened between haru and reader idk(i'm making it really dramatic so when i reveal what happened it'll be really anticlimactic)
> 
> also, i have a discord server(discordapp.com/invite/8HZaXVQ) if you're interested i might be posting hints about future chapters and/ or future books. i also might put drabbles there because i write a lot of drabbles and i'm too lazy to go through the trouble of making a drabble book, also you can yell at me to update there : )
> 
> please comment your thoughts if you want to! : )


	16. CHAPTER FIFTEEN | CHEER UP

The young couple looked at their server in confusion. Their server, a young woman in her early teens was gazing down at her notepad.  
"Um, excuse me, miss?" One of the women at the table asked in a concerned voice only to receive silence in return.  
"Ahem," coughed out the other woman at the table. She snapped her finger in front of the distracted girl's face.

No response. She then waved her hand in front of the teen girl's face only for her to continue to ignore the two.  
She let out a small sigh before speaking up, "Are you okay?"  
The girl's head suddenly bolted up at the sound of the older woman's voice. You looked around the room and then back at the two women in front of you, the feeling of their eyes on you causing you to look at them.  
You felt the blood rush to your cheeks once you saw the two women and their concerned looks. You realized that you spaced out while taking an order, again.  
"I'm sorry about that"  
"No, it's alright, I'm just glad you're alright"  
You slowly walked to the counter to give the young couple's order to the kitchen, the heat that rested on your cheeks refusing to go away.  
Walking to the counter you didn't notice a certain waitress looking at you with an amused grin. Rina Akaza, one of the waitresses at [L/N]'s smirked at your nervous figure having just witnessed your spacing out just a few minutes ago.  
She walked over to the counter you were standing behind, her mischievous grin clear on her face.  
She rested her elbow on the clean counter, leaning her cheek into her palm. Her light brown eyes observed your nervous movements in amusement, the sight being the most interesting thing she's seen all day.  
"That was entertaining [N/N]-chan~"  
Letting out a groan at the sound of the familiar teasing voice you turned your head up to look at the older woman. Your eyebrow twitched at Rina's smug grin and teasing raised eyebrow.  
"What?" you glared at the brunette in annoyance, her teasing ticking you off.  
"Nothing, Nothing," Rina chuckled out, waving you off.  
Rina stared at you as you turned away from her to let out a sigh. You were staring down at the notepad with an order that you scribbled down when it was pulled out of your hand. You looked up from the counter to look at the waitress who had just walked around the counter to stand next to you. Rina looked at you with a small smile before walking pass you without saying a word.  
You let out a gasp and turned around to point a finger at your co-worker.  
"Just what do you think you're doing?!"  
You marched up to her in annoyance and just as you were about to grab the notepad out of her hand she raised the notepad up high and out of your grasp.  
She chuckled at the confused look on your face.  
"Just relax"  
"Huh?"  
"Just relax, I mean you're the boss so you allowed to do that all the time, right?"  
You continued to stare at her in confusion.  
She let out another laugh at your confusion, resting the small notepad on her right shoulder.  
You felt a hand ruffle your hair softly. You looked up and saw Rina down slightly looking at you with a smile.  
"Your shift is almost done so just relax, alright?"  
Before you could reply she left to give the order to the kitchen leaving you to stand around.

* * *

You looked around the restaurant, resting your eyes on a couple sitting in the corner booth. You looked away occasionally as to not raise suspicion but your eyes kept returning to the love struct couple not that they noticed.  
Watching the couple you felt your heart clench, the silhouette of a familiar tall male coming into your mind.  
"So, what are you doing?"  
You jumped back in surprise at your thoughts being interrupted by a familiar voice.  
You looked back at the owner of the new voice and you felt your forehead tick, looking at you with judging eyes was Kenji Shimura.  
"It's nice to know that you're still a creep that watches people"  
Your eyes narrowed.  
"And it's nice to know you're still a jerk"  
Kenji turned away from you, averting his eyes.  
"Great comeback dumbass," Kenji laughed out ignoring the daggers you were glaring into him.  
You huffed and opened your mouth to say something to the laughing teen but decided against it. You turned away from him and leaned on the counter.

Turning away from your annoying friend you turned your gaze at the young couple occupying the corner booth. Watching the couple you felt a feeling that you tried to push away. The silhouette that came into your mind earlier became a blurry image that became clearer and clearer as you continued to watch the young couple. 

You clenched your fist as you thought about **him** and how things with him ended.

You thought about the tall male and his dark brown hair and dull teal blue eyes. Thinking about him and how everything ended with him left a bad taste in your mouth.

Kenji noticed your silence and lack of response to his teasing. He turned to you and watched as the expression on your face changed from a look of annoyance to a pained look. He had an idea of what was on your mind. 

"Are you seriously still hung up on **him**?" he asked.

You flinched slightly at his question and turned away from him, refusing to meet eyes with him. 

Bingo.

The tall brunette let out a long sigh as he watched your nervous figure. 

"I have an idea," you turned to look at Kenji who was smiling widely at you with a wink, "Clear your schedule!"

"What?" you asked, standing up straight to look at the brunette male in confusion not quite understanding what he was saying. 

"Clear your schedule for the rest of the day!"

Kenji was beaming. He was completely confident in his plan that he had made up in less than a minute and he was determined to go through with it. 

You continued to stare at Kenji with wide eyes. You wanted to say no to his random comment but decided against it. He looked so earnest and determined that you couldn't bring yourself to say no to him. 

You let out a sigh and gave him a small smile. 

"Sure, my shift is almost over and it's not like I have any plans for the rest of the day" 

Kenji excitedly flashed a bright smile at you and ran to the door eager to get everything in order for his plan to go right.

* * *

You walked out of the locker room in your casual clothes waving to your co-workers as you walked to the front of the restaurant. You walked out of the restaurant, waving goodbye to the others. 

You were about to take another step forward onto the pavement in front of you when all of a sudden you heard two familiar voices. 

"[Y/N]! Over here!"

You turned around and saw your two friends, Kenji, and Akihito waving you over. 

After a few minutes of talking to you, Kenji and Akihito left to walk around going from the old playground worn by the years to the port that was occupied by a few fishing boats. 

You walked and joked with the two already forgetting about the reason why you were feeling under the weather in the first place and before you knew it the sun was already going down.

You and Kenji walked Akihito home, waving him goodbye, watching enter his house with a smile. 

Despite your insistence, Kenji walked you home. You and Kenji walked to your empty home in complete silence, the only noise coming from nearby students and animals.

You finally ended up on the doorstep of your house. You turned to look at the brunette male who was staring up at the big house that you occupied. 

"It's nice to see that you're feeling a lot better than you felt earlier today"

You turned to look at Kenji flashing him a shy smile as rubbing the back of your head. 

A small blush appeared on Kenji's cheeks, he took a nervous gulp and opened his mouth to speak. 

"Y'know I know he wasn't really that interested in a relationship with you but I just wanted to say I wouldn't mind being in one with you"

You looked at Kenji with a blank stare as you began to process what he had just said. 

_"I wouldn't mind being in one with you..."_

You felt your cheeks explode in a burning blush as you realized what he told you. You didn't know what to think. He just suggested that he'd be interested in dating you. That was exactly what he said but he basically implied it with his wording.

In midst of your panic over his words, you were interrupted by abrupt laughter coming from the brunette in front of you. Kenji held his stomach, pointing his finger at you, he tried his best to get words out only for them to be overlapped by his loud and obnoxious laughter. 

You felt your cheeks heat up, even more, this time out of embarrassment rather than the romantic implications that you were thinking about. Your forehead ticked as his laughter continued adding to your embarrassment and annoyance.

Narrowing your eyes you began to yell at the laughing male having had enough of his insufferable laughing. 

"Shut up already you idiot!" 

He cackled even louder than he already was, falling over on his side not caring if anyone was to hear or see him. You were about to leave him to go inside when he stopped you. He got off the ground and wiped a tear from his eye, he opened his mouth and was finally able to form a sentence after a few minutes of not being able to get a word out without a laugh interrupting him. 

"But seriously, I'm glad that you're feeling better," Kenji said, giving you a warm smile. 

You felt your cheeks heat up slightly as you gazed at him and his warm smile that left you surprised. 

"I guess I should get going," Kenji dusted himself off and picked up his bag of items from the 100 yen shop to leave when you stopped him with three words that he almost never heard from you. 

"Thank you, Kenji"

"No problem," he waved you goodbye with the back of his hand leaving you in a better mood than you've been all month.

* * *

You were walking Kou home from school when a certain bit of news fell from her lips leaving you in complete shock. You spit out the pieces of the nikuman in your mouth in response to what she said. 

Kou looked at you with wide eyes completely surprised by your response to what she thought of as not so interesting news. 

"Is there something wrong [Y/N]-chan?" 

You wiped away the remnants of the food on your face away with the sleeve of your blazer. 

_Why did I react like that?_

"N-No I was just surprised," you nervously laughed trying to ignore the awkwardness caused by your reaction to her news.

_I can't believe Makoto agreed to even go through with this _

The two of you continued to walk to Kou's house after a few minutes of you trying to calm down. You glanced to look at Kou and saw her looking down at her feet as she walked. 

"Um, Kou-chan?" 

She turned her head up to look at you and the fake smile you were giving her, she tilted her head in confusion. 

"Can I join the swim club for the training camp?"

"Sure," Kou nodded and began to explain their plans for the trip and you slowly began to regret your decision to ask to join them on their training camp. 

* * *

You sat in your bed with your legs crisscrossed holding your phone to your ear listening to your friend's bored and tired voice. 

"Just go to the stupid training camp"

You looked down in your lap, holding the phone in your hand while you talked to Kenji having asked him what you should do. 

"I know but is it really a good idea" 

You continued to ramble to Kenji over the phone, ignoring the bored and tired tone of his voice. 

"[Y/N] you've been talking to me for two hours about this, I'm tired"

He took a long pause leaving you on the edge of your seat desperate to know what he was about to say. You leaned forward waiting to hear what he was about to say. 

"Just shut up already and go"

You gasped in shock by his comment and he continued to say things that would cause you to gasp even more. 

"I mean you're just the manager it's not like you do anything important"

You let out an offended gasp at his rude comment before pulling away your phone to glare at the screen as if in an attempt to glare at Kenji himself.

"Fine, fill your own water bottle you jerk"

"Sorry, sorry" he jokingly apologized in a tired voice, desperate to finish his conversation with you and finally go to sleep. 

"But seriously [Y/N] just go, I think it'll be good for you, you've been acting different lately and I really think this will help"  
You let out a sigh another unsure of what you should say next, "So, do you really this will be a good idea?" 

"Yes I do, now go to sleep" 

You said goodnight to Kenji and got yourself comfortable in your bed as you prepared yourself to fall asleep. You glanced over to the nightstand next to your bed and picked up the small picture frame sitting on the nightstand in front of the lamp. 

You brushed your hand over the photo of you with boys of multiple different colors. You focused your eyes on a certain boy with bored ocean blue eyes. 

You pressed the picture to your forehead before pulling it away to place it back on the nightstand close to you. 

"I hope we can talk," you whispered to nobody. 

You paused for a second listening to your words bounce off of the walls of your room. 

"Maybe I can finally apologize"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kenji is a good boy and an annoying piece of trash lol kenji probably won't be a love interest because i'm already stressed with everyone i'm planning to be love interests because there's a lot but he still is a high quality trash boy that deserves something in this story 
> 
> so i finally brought up reader's ex and since subtlety isn't exactly my strong suit i think it's pretty obvious who reader's ex bf is and we're going to get some drama and maybe some rin x reader and haru x reader romance soon 
> 
> yes i changed the cover once again i'm trash at making covers and i really just want the cover to look nice
> 
> anyways vote on this poll to decide what i should write next
> 
> also i have a discord server so you can yell at me to update there
> 
> please tell me your thoughts on this if you want to and thank you for reading : )


	17. CHAPTER SIXTEEN | A TRIP

_The ocean..._

You thought back to Makoto and felt a sinking feeling in your stomach. You were worried about the how trip, in general, would be, especially considering Makoto and his feelings regarding the ocean. It's been years since that incident happened and his fear of the ocean began but you couldn't help but feel worried and concerned for your friend. 

Makoto and the ocean...

You let out a sigh and shook your head, shaking your head in an attempt to get rid of your negative thoughts. 

Maybe, just maybe Makoto has gotten over his fear of the ocean. 

Your thoughts were interrupted by the sound of distant knocking coming from downstairs. Placing the folded clothes in your hand into your suitcase you walked over to the window and looked outside to the ground below. 

There he was.

**Makoto Tachibana.**

The person that occupied your thoughts was standing in front of your door waiting for you patiently. 

You took a deep breath and opened your window and poked your head out after a few seconds of hesitation.

"Makoto!"

The tall brunette paused before walking back far enough to see you through your window. He smiled up at you, his warm smile lit up by the sun as the rays of light hit his face. Seeing his kind smile you felt all of your worries quickly melt away. 

"I'll be down in a minute!" 

You quickly zipped up your suitcase before pulling it off your bed, nearly falling down at the surprising weight. You quickly pulled stood up straight and pulled the bag across the floor, the weight of the bag was too much for you to handle. Walking down the stairs you cursed under your breath, wincing as you listened to the sound of the heavy suitcase dropping onto the staircase behind you. 

Makoto was humming as he played with his hands as he waited for you to come out when the door he stood in front of swung open causing him to jump back in surprise. 

He looked at you with wide eyes. 

You leaned on the door you swung open, your panting and heavy breathing filling the silence in the air. "S-Sorry for t-taking so l-" 

You dropped your head and let go of the handle of the suitcase as you leaned your entire body on the door, trying your best to catch your breath. 

"[Y/N]-chan are you okay?!" 

You looked up and saw Makoto looking down at you in concern. 

You clutched and couldn't believe what you were seeing. 

Am I looking at angel?

"[Y/N]-chan?" 

"Huh?" 

Standing up straight, you huffed, you were still tired from running down carrying the weight that was your fully packed suitcase. 

The weight that was weighing down your right hand was suddenly lifted. You turned to look up and saw Makoto holding your suitcase with ease. 

"Don't worry I can carry it, okay?" 

"S-Sure" 

* * *

You stared up at Makoto as the two of you walked over to the port that held the squid boat that Coach Goro owned that would take you and the swim club to the island. 

You felt your hair stand up at the sound of the crashing waves on the beach catching your attention. 

From the corner of your eye, you saw Makoto flinch and you were reminded of why you were so worried about the trip in the first place. 

"Ma-" 

"Let's hurry up," Makoto sped up. "We don't want to keep the others waiting for us, right?"

Before you could say anything to Makoto he left you behind without any hesitance, walking ahead of you with large strides in an attempt to ignore the subject. 

You let out a sigh before speeding up, trying to catch up with the taller male. You mentally cursed, you made it extremely obvious what you were going to say and you couldn't help but feel upset at yourself.

Makoto felt his heart race as he walked as fast as he could, the way you were acting was already suspicious but the moment he saw you look at the ocean and how you glanced at him from the corner of your eye and noticed his flinch he sped up in a desperate attempt to cut you off from saying anything. He lifted his foot to move forward but was interrupted by the feeling of a weak pull on the back of his shirt. 

He looked back and saw you behind him hanging onto the back of his shirt. Realizing Makoto stopped after about a minute or so of you running after him and pulling on his shirt you let go of him. 

Resting your hands on your knees you attempted to catch your breath, your heavy breathing catching Makoto's attention. 

"[Y-Y/N]-chan?!"

Makoto turned around completely and bent down slightly, "I'm sorry about that I guess I kind of got distracted." He scratched the back of his head and offered you his hand, you looked down at his hand for a few minutes before letting out a sigh that could barely be heard and taking his hand. 

After that, Makoto began walking at your pace again but he didn't look at you- well, at he didn't look at you when you were looking at him.

You felt his green orbs piercing stare but every time you decided to look at him he would always be looking in front of him or at the ground, he looked at everything and everyone that he passed by except for you. 

You quickly shifted your eyes to the side and looked up at the taller male and saw him look away- you finally got him. 

You looked at him with your eyebrows furrowed and opened your mouth to speak, there was no way he would be able to avoid the subject without talking to you like he did earlier. 

"**Makoto.**" he stopped walking. 

His shoulders were tense for only a moment before he turned and gave you a forced smile. 

"Is there something wro-"

"Are you okay with this?" 

It was always easy to tell when he was lying even if he didn't know it. 

Anyone who knew Makoto could tell the difference between the genuine smiles that Makoto would give and the forced smiles he would plaster across his face to hide his true feelings. 

Makoto was tense, it was obvious that the mere idea of swimming in the ocean was too much for him. Why was he acting this way? 

You asked yourself the question but you already knew the answer to it. 

"I mean the ocean-" 

"Don't worry about it" 

You felt a stinging pain in your chest as Makoto smiled at you. 

That was the thing about Makoto's fake smiles, it was always obvious to you that they were forced by at the same time they always had a bit of sincerity in it as if he wanted them all to be genuine. 

He wasn't fine with swimming in the ocean. He was the farthest thing from fine and you knew it you just couldn't bring yourself to say anything to him about it. 

You wanted to tell him that it wasn't fine and that he should go through with the trip if his feelings regarding hadn't changed and that everybody would understand if he didn't want to go through with it but you knew if you did you'd just be wasting your breath. You knew that even if you yelled it from the top of your lungs he wouldn't listen to you and just go through with it anyways. 

"I'll be fine."

** _Liar_ **

* * *

"There you two are," you looked up and saw Kou, "Just what took you so long?"

"Sorry-sorry, it's just that Makoto got lost on the way to my place so I had to look for him," you explained. 

"What?!" Makoto looked at you with a shocked and offended look his face. "That's not what happened!" 

"It's basically what happened," you said, waving off Makoto's comments. 

"That is not what happened, that is not close to what happened!" 

"Let bygones be bygones"

"Stop brushing this aside!" 

You let out a sigh and let out a small laugh as you watched Makoto try to defend himself for Kou and Nagisa's teasing.

_At least that gloomy air between me and Makoto is gone, hopefully, it'll stay that way or-_

Your thoughts were interrupted by the sound of your phone going off. Quickly digging your phone out of your pocket you took one look at the screen and your eye twitched at the caller id. 

** _'Akaza please leave me alone'_ ** ** **

You let out a sigh before turning away from the group to reluctantly answer her. 

"What." 

"Don't be rude [N/N]-chan me and the others wanted to say goodbye since you were rude and refused to inform everyone about your little trip"

"I held a meeting saying that I would be going on a trip with the swim club." 

"What about the people that couldn't attend the meeting?"

"I sent out texts to everyone." 

"Um, what about the people that don't have phones?"

"Everyone that works at the restaurant has a phone." You've only been gone from the restaurant for a day and it seemed like Rina somehow got even more annoying. 

"Okay, uh-I know!" 

You let out a sigh, she was really starting to get desperate. 

"What about the people that don't have service?"

"I sent an email to everyone as well," you answered. 

"What ab-"

"Anyone that doesn't have access to the internet can just use the free wifi at the restaurant and if they don't want to I left a note," you huffed out. 

There was a moment of silence on the other side of the phone and as you listened in to it you heard multiple other voices on the other side. 

You could recognize all of the voices that you were hearing and you felt even more annoyed than you did when you saw the caller id. 

Daichi Oze, Mayu Ishida, Tatsuya Miyoshi, you just heard the voices of everyone that worked at the restaurant and you felt your eye twitch. 

You took a deep breath and rubbed your forehead before you responded, "Will you idiots get back to work!" 

You listened to the sound of running through the fun, letting a sigh and hung up and moved back to the group. 

"Well, it's nice to see that they're as rowdy as ever," Makoto said with a laugh. 

"Rowdy? I'd call them more annoying than rowdy."

After a few minutes of talking, Miss Amakata arrived leading to a weird interaction between her and Coach Sasabe before leaving for the island. 

The boat got closer and closer to the island as you thought about everything from what Keiji said about Haru to Makoto even swimming in the ocean. 

You took a deep breath and sighed, there was no going back on your plans now. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a.n.
> 
> [y/n] is just stressed as hell in this story and i feel so sorry for her
> 
> anyways i just wanted to say that i'll post the next chapter rather soon because when it comes to chapters like this i don't like waiting and this is probably one of the most dramatic episodes in the season(though the entire season is drama so that isn't saying much) 
> 
> anyways please tell me your thoughts on this if you want to and thank you for reading : )


	18. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN | THE OCEAN

"This place is amazing!" 

"I'm so glad I came" 

"Well, it's certainly nicer than I thought it would be," you said with a small smile. You raised your hand to your face, shielding your eyes from the bright sun, "What do you think R-" 

"Rei! Are you okay?!" 

Rei was crouched down on the ground holding his hand to his mouth. You reached your hand out to him, "Rei is everything alri-" 

"Please excuse me!" 

Pulling your hand back quickly you watched as Rei ran past you, holding his right hand up to his mouth and his left to his stomach. You and Makoto watched him in concern as he ran past you to the nearest restroom. 

You looked up at Makoto and worried thoughts of the situation came to your mind, not wanting to think about it you shock your head catching Makoto's attention. 

"[Y/N]-chan is there something wrong?"

"Ah! N-No it's nothing!" you said waving your hands all about. 

Haru looked over at the sight of the two of you interacting with his usual blank expression. He didn't know when you and Makoto had gotten so close, all he knew was that it annoyed him in a sense.

Feeling eyes on the back of your head you turned around and shifted your attention away from the ocean in front of you to the black-haired male. Before the two of you could meet each other's eyes he turned away leaving you to frown and look down at your feet in disappointment. You didn't notice that blue eyes that shifted onto you disappointed figure. 

"[Y/N]-chan?" 

You turned your head and looked up at the concerned voice and saw Makoto looking at you, his brows furrowed and his mouth turned down in a small frown.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked. 

"N-No, it's nothing, don't worry abou-" 

"Hey, guys!" 

You closed your mouth at the sound of fast-approaching footsteps, you looked up and saw Rei come towards the rest of the group coming back from the bathroom. 

_That was fast_

You opened up your mouth to say something to the formerly sea sick teen but you shut your mouth as you listened to him tell you the new information that he couldn't keep to himself any longer. 

"You're going to want to take a look at this" 

You and the others followed Rei as he led all of you to the indoor pool that was occupied by the Samezuka Swimming Team for their own training camp. 

You let out a soft sigh of frustration, cursing under your breath at the sight. You couldn't help but get frustrated at the events that were unfolding in front of your very eyes. What were the odds of this even happening?

"What's the deal Gou-chan, this part of your plan or something?" 

You all looked away from the Samezuka swim team's practice and turned your attention over to the maroon haired girl.

"This is a total surprise to me I swear!" Kou said defending herself from Makoto's accusations. 

You looked at the first-year girl with a judging gaze for a few seconds before tearing your stare away from her back to the practicing team. 

You stared down at the maroon haired male for a few seconds with a worried gaze before jumping back slightly in surprise as Rin turned his gaze to your direction. You looked down with surprised wide eyes for a few seconds before getting up to follow Makoto and the rest of the swim club closely behind. 

* * *

"C'mon Gou-chan, [Y/N]-chan," 

"Huh?" 

The boys looked up at you, Miss Amakata, and Kou in slight surprise as the three of you picked up your bags. 

"If we don't get moving we're going to miss our check in time at the lodge," Miss Amakata turned to you and Kou and gave you a small smile. 

"Sounds good"

"Right," you smiled up at the older woman as you pushed away all of your stressful thoughts from your mind. At least you could relax in a comfortable lodge and forget about everything for a little while. 

"The lodge?" all four of the boys said in unison. 

Tilting your head you placed your bag on the sand as you looked at the boys in confusion.

"Wait, what do you mean?" 

Did they not know about the lodge? 

"The way I see it there's a lodge sitting right there," Miss Amakata pointed over to the lodges sitting above the beach and you felt the realization of what was going on sink in. 

"So why not" 

The boys looked at you feeling completely betrayed. 

"Even you [N/N]-chan?" you looked at Nagisa froze for a few seconds not quite knowing how to react to look he was giving you. 

After a few seconds, you finally knew how to react to the look on. You held your hand up to your mouth stifling your laughter at the sight of the offended look on Nagisa's face at your ultimate betrayal. 

"Pfft- Hahaha!" 

"It's not funny [N/N]-chan!" Nagisa pouted. 

"Don't worry about it, think about it this way, this can be a team-building exercise for all of you," you said wiping a tear from your eye. 

"Team building?" Makoto gave you an incredulous look.

"Yeah!" you said in mock enthusiasm, "You guys can bond over uncomfortable sleeping conditions!" 

"..." 

"Please stop looking at me like that Makoto." 

* * *

"All I have to do is talk to him, all I have to do is talk to him, all I have to do is..." 

Standing by the window Kou watched you in concern as you sat in the corner of the room mumbling to yourself the same nine words you had been saying for the past few minutes. 

Walking over to you Kou crouched down to you and have you a small closed eye smile. 

"You shouldn't worry so much [Y/N]-chan," 

You looked up at the younger girl, it was as if you were looking at an angle, you didn't know what to say-

"After all we'll be looking at muscles for this entire trip so there's nothing to feel bad about!" 

Nevermind.

* * *

You watched as the boys one by one ran into the ocean to begin their training. You held your hands up to your chest and took a deep gulp. You could do this- at least that's what you kept telling yourself, whether you believed it or not was another story. 

Taking a deep breath you quickly approached the raven-haired boy.

"U-Um, H-Haru?" 

Haru turned to look at you and you felt your heart race as you looked at his blue eyes. Haru looked at you with his usual blank expression and you felt your mouth dry up as the words you were about to say refused to come out.

"Hm? Is there something you need?" 

"W-Well, I- Uh..." 

"Well?" Haru asked, slightly annoyed at your mumbling. 

You looked up at him with wide eyes before hiding your hands around your back and turning your head down to look at the sand beneath you. 

"N-No, i-it's nothing," you mumbled your breath. 

Haru opened his mouth to say something only for nothing to come out, feeling bad and wanting to comfort you in some way Haru reached his hand out to you only to retract it at the last second. Letting out a sigh he turned away from you and joined the others in the water leaving you disappointed once again. 

* * *

You looked down at the sand, the feeling of your feet buried beneath the sand usually felt annoying but the smell of the ocean and the soft sound of distant splashing seemed to relax you. Playing with the sand in your hands you tuned out any nearby sounds causing you to not notice the sound of approaching footsteps. 

You watched as the sand slowly fell from your hand until being interrupted by the feeling of someone ruffling your hair. Your shoulders stiffened in surprise at the sudden feeling. You dropped the sand in your hand and looked up at whoever ruffled your hair and saw Makoto giving you a gentle smile. 

You unconsciously gave him a small smile. You felt your stress melt away at the warm and comforting that he was giving you. 

"Great job today Makoto," you said happily accepting the hand he offered you. 

"It wasn't the best," he gave you a small chuckle, "But it's only the first day so we'll get better." 

"Well, I still think you guys did a good job," you said beaming a smile at the taller male. 

"Hey, that's enough push for one day boys," Miss Amakata said as she placed down plastic bags on the wooden tables. "Let's eat dinner while we can still do so with a gorgeous sunset."

"All right tropical barbeque!" 

"Oh no! This is bad, I forgot to bring seasonings!" Miss Amakata exclaimed. 

"Don't worry," you said with a smile, "I'll just borrow some from the lodge!"

You stood up and picked up your bag gently dusting the sand off of it. You needed to pick up a few things from the lodge anyway so it would be a good opportunity. 

"Do you need any help?" Makoto asked. 

"No-no don't worry," you waved off Makoto. "I have to grab a few things out of the lodge anyways so I might as well pick up some seasonings from the lodge." 

You waved off the others as you walked towards the lodge. You couldn't help but smile as you looked at the path in front of you. When you first heard about the training camp you had your doubts but seeing how everything has ended up you had high hopes for everything. 

You ran up to your destination before halting in your steps to prevent running into a familiar silver-haired boy. 

"[Y/N]-senpai?" 

"Hi Nitori," you nervously smiled giving the silver-haired swimmer a reluctant wave. 

"What are you doing here?" 

"Uh, well you see-" 

**"Is everything okay?" **

You turned your attention away from Nitori and looked behind him locking eyes with a certain someone who you wished you wouldn't see. You stopped breathing at the eye contact that you had with Rin, the feelings of boring into his maroon eyes was too much for you. 

"Hey Rin," you awkwardly laughed and gave him a nervous wave as you internally cursed, of all the people that you could've met today why did it have to be Rin. 

You quickly avoided eye contact with the taller male, desperate to not cause any unnecessary trouble. You kept your gaze down at the concrete ground until hearing a short sigh coming from the teen in front of you. 

"Nitori why don't you head back" hearing those words coming out of his mouth you felt your heart sink realizing that he wanted to talk to you and you had no other option than to talk.

* * *

"What are you doing here?"

_Well that was certainly direct, to say the least_

You looked up at Rin and saw the annoyed look on his face and let out a short sigh before answering him, reluctantly might I add, "I'm here with Haru and the others for their training camp." 

Rin gave you a skeptical look before opening his mouth once more to speak, "I don't get it, how can they hold a training camp when we're using the pool?" 

You winced at his words, turning away from him for a few seconds until turning towards him with your head still pointed down at the ground. 

"The ocean..." you said barely louder than a whisper. 

Rin looked at you in complete shock. He couldn't believe that Makoto would be willing to swim in the ocean considering his _experiences_. 

"And Makoto's actually okay with that," he muttered out just loud enough for you to hear. 

You felt your anxiety slowly creep in at his words. You weren't sure how to answer him, Rin probably wasn't expecting an answer from you but you couldn't help but think of an answer anyway. He seemed like he was okay with it but it was hard to know if he was lying or being truthful. You felt your heart race as you thought about it. 

"Yes, No, I don't know," you said as you pulled on the short strands of hair that framed your face. "He said he's okay with it but I don't think he is and he seemed okay during the training today but there was also something off about him..." 

Rin's brows were furrowed as he watched you get more and more panicked by the second. He felt overwhelming guilt at his words as he watched you pull on your hair. Your body was tense, not daring to relax for a second. 

_He didn't know what to do. _

Rin took a deep breath and called our your name. 

"[Y/N]," he said in a soft voice. 

You didn't hear Rin saying your name, all you could hear was your anxiety ridden thoughts. Thoughts about being a bad friend to Makoto filled your mind, maybe you should've prodded Makoto even more, you were more than aware about Makoto's fear of the ocean yet you didn't say a single thing to him, you just went with everything he said and did without a single complaint against your better judgement. You thought-. 

"[Y/N]." 

You were snapped out of your anxious thoughts by a comforting warmth that grabbed your hands, the warmth relaxing you and taking you out of your guilt ridden thoughts. 

You looked up and saw Rin looking down at your hands with a faint pink blush that danced across his cheeks. 

"Rin..." 

"You shouldn't worry about it too much," he said ruffling your hair as he turned away from you. "I'm sure everything will work out, okay." 

You stared up at him for a few seconds before turning your head down to look at your now warm hands. A warm smile graced your face as you stared down at your hands. 

Noticing you having fallen silent Rin turned to look at you, "Are you oka-" 

"Thank you Rin," your cheeks had a tinge of pink as you beamed a warm smile at the taller male. 

Rin felt his heart race at the sudden smile that you beamed up at him. He turned away quickly as he started to glow a scarlet red. 

"C'mon" 

"Rin?" 

"You said you're staying at the lodge, right? So let me walk you back ," he said without looking back at you. 

You looked at the back of his head and brightly smiled as you got up to follow him behind. 

Maybe seeing Rin wasn't so bad. 

* * *

You sat down in your bed with your knees to your chest as you held your phone to your ear. 

You held the phone tightly to your ear and listened to your brother's lazy voice as you stared out the window looking out at the dark and peaceful night sky. 

"Just talk to him [Y/N]," he said with a sigh, the sound of splashing water around him hitting your ear. 

"You overthink too much, just go up to him and talk to him, okay? Anyways I've got to go." 

"Wait a second-" 

Before you could speak further you heard the sound of repetitive beeping go off. You pulled away the ph ok ne from your ear and glared down at the screen realizing that he had just hung up on you. 

"Jeez, what a jerk," you mumbled out under your breath. 

_Just talk him, it's not that easy_

Your relationship with Haru has definitely gotten better over the past few weeks but it was nowhere near the place you wanted it to be. You couldn't even talk to Haru by yourself without clamming up. 

Maybe he was still mad at you. No, no, no, no, no. You couldn't think about that, all that did was make things even worse for you.

You couldn't think about it anymore, it was starting to be too much and you were starting to stress out more than you already was.

You let out a long sigh as you stared up at the ceiling. Your mind was racing with thoughts and you couldn't stop thinking about everything.

You sat up straight and looked over to Kou and Miss Amakata sleeping soundly, they looked so peaceful it could almost make you fall asleep- almost.

Maybe it was the environment you were in or maybe you were just being overly suspicious, either way there was something off.

You looked out the window and flinched back slightly as thunder cracked the sky. It gave you a sense if uneasiness.

Against your better judgement you walked out of the lodge and down to the beach. You felt your stomach drop as you saw the gray sky and violent waves that and rushed down to the tents that rested on the beach. 

You got to their tents and felt relieved once you saw that the water wasn't close to the tents but you suddenly felt your heart drop as you stopped in your steps to return to the lodge when you turned to look at the ocean.

**There was Rei.**

Rei was in the ocean trying his best to keep above the water, gasping for air. You took a step forward towards him before faltering to look at the tents. You didn't know what to do, Makoto and the others were definitely better swimmers than you but did that really matter at a time like this. 

You took a deep breath and yelled out their names.

"HARU! MAKOTO! NAGISA!" 

You didn't finish what you planned to say, instead deciding to run into the sea to try and help Rei. 

You ran towards the raging water as fast as you could tripping over sand on your way over to him. 

"Hang on Rei! I'm coming!" 

You didn't know what you would do once you got to him but just getting to Rei was the only thing on your mind, everything else seemed irrelevant. 

You swam over as fast as you could as you felt the raging water hit you but you ignored the stinging salt water in your eyes and your straining muscles as you pushed on, desperate to get to Rei. 

As soon as you got to him your adrenaline rush quickly disappeared, your straining muscles got to you as you began to feel your limbs weigh you down, salt water getting into your mouth. 

You felt tears fall down your face as you struggled to stay above water and breath. You inhaled the salt water that surrounded you as you attempted to gasp for sir causing you to have a harsh coughing fit. 

The pain was too much for you, you completely forgot about Rei. 

**You didn't know what to do. **

"[Y/N]-chan!"

You opened your eyes and felt your sobs grow louder as you saw Makoto swim out to the two of you. 

When Makoto got to the two of you he didn't do anything, he froze. He stopped completely without saying a word. You opened your mouth to say something but closed as you looked at his face. 

All you saw when you looked at Makoto was the scared and frightened little boy that you saw all those years ago. 

"Makoto!" you knew that he was relieving memories that caused his current state but you needed him to snap out of it. 

A few seconds passed by before you heard two familiar voices. You turned your head away from Makoto and Rei for a second and Haru and Nagisa swimming towards you. 

They were swimming as fast as they could but to you it seemed as if they were swimming in quicksand. You attempted to call out their names only for you to feel the stinging salt water go down your throat, you were absolutely terrified but you couldn't bring yourself to yell or cry anymore. 

His eyes widened as he looked in your direction. He wasn't looking at you but behind you. You reluctantly turned your head to the scene behind you and you felt your heart sink to the bottom of the sea floor.

Dark blue, that was the last thing you saw before you were buried beneath the weight of the rough wave that surprised you.  
You attempted to bring your head up out of the water but immediately you were hit by the wave pushing you down deep into the water giving you a mouthful of salt water.  
You couldn't move anymore, you felt like there were anchors holding down your arms and legs.  
You couldn't breath, all you could do was watch your surroundings become blurry until they were overtaken by a neverending black that terrified you even more than the turbulent waves that you couldn't escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a.n.
> 
> reader is traumatized now and i'm sorry 
> 
> this is longest chapter I've ever written and i hope it's decent 
> 
> please don't come at me for the last few scenes i based them off of my personal experience nearly drowning so don't come at me because it isn't realistic
> 
> anyways i hope this is good and if you like it please tell me your thoughts : )


	19. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN | MAKING UP

_"Haru-chan!"_

_"Are you going to join the swim club?"_

_"Something happened with Rin, didn't it?"_

_"I'm sorry too." _

_"It's annoying, you never try but you're always better than me, it's not fair!"_

_"I would like to resign from the swim club." _

_It's dark and cold. _

_-pai!_

**"[Y/N]-senpai!"**

You sat up straight and coughed out the saltwater stuck in your throat, your rough coughing causing Rei to wince before helping you to sit up. 

You coughed harshly and felt a burning sensation in your throat, chest, and eyes. You felt the all the water leave your throat but you couldn't help but continue to cough harshly, you felt yourself gag, the pain made you like you couldn't breathe. 

You looked up at Rei with wide eyes as you shook in place. You didn't know what to say or even do, you wanted to try and comfort him considering how terrified he looked but at the same time, you couldn't even close your eyes without wanting to cry, well without wanting to try to cry. You couldn't even cry, your eyes were swollen and stinging from the saltwater. 

You felt your coughing get even harsher at the sight of Rei's horrified face, you dug your fingers into the wet sand beneath you as you attempted to calm down. 

"R-Re-"

You were interrupted by the sound of the crashing waves and booming thunder causing you to flinch as you remembered how cold and alone you felt in the ocean, it was just too unpredictable and you didn't know how to react to it. 

You shut your eyes tightly for a few minutes before taking a deep breath, you had to do something, you couldn't just sit there doing nothing. 

You turned to Rei and forced a smile in an attempt to make the situation a little better despite your obvious discomfort. 

"A-Are you o-okay Rei?" 

Rei reluctantly nodded in response to your obviously forced smile. It was clear as day that you weren't okay, the sight of you made him feel as if his heart would stop. 

Rei took a nervous and looked back at you for a second before turning his gaze to the wet sand beneath him. 

"I- I'm fine [Y/N]-senpai," Rei said, his concern for you clear in his voice. 

You gave a Rei a smile as you looked down at the wet sand that clung to your clothes, the feeling of the wet hand in your hands calming you down. 

"Okay," you let out another cough, "Let's go and look for the others."

"R-Right," Rei nodded and stood up getting off of his knees. 

You smiled, you still couldn't shake off that feeling of dread that you felt but seeing that Rei was feeling better made you feel slightly better than you did when you first opened your eyes. 

You looked down and made an attempt to stand up only to discover that you couldn't move, your limbs felt heavy, it was as if an anchor was weighing you down. You took a deep breath and closed your eyes before making another attempt to move. You opened your eyes and saw that you were in the same place as you were when your eyes were open. 

You sighed. 

You strained yourself too much when you attempted to save Rei, you couldn't move and you probably wouldn't be able to move by yourself for a few more minutes until your strength returned to you. 

"Um, Rei," you called out to the taller male. 

A few seconds after calling out to the blue-haired teen you felt your clothes cling to you and you looked down at your body. You felt the blood rush to your cheeks in mere seconds at the sight of your shirt, your shirt was now clinging to your body, transparent due to the water that clung to your body. You pulled your shirt out in an attempt to make it baggy and hide what was showing. 

"Yes, [Y/N]-senpai?" Rei asked as he crouched down to your level. 

"Well, I, kind of need you to carry me," you turned away from Rei and rubbed the back of your head and bit you lower lip, you knew there was nothing wrong in asking for help but considering the fact that you got into your situation by yourself, it was embarrassing to ask him for help to move. 

There was silence for a few seconds between the two of you. You winced, you knew it wouldn't be the best thing to ask but you had to try. 

You took a deep breath, breathing in the sea air and turned to Rei finally done trying to avoid him. 

"Look, Rei, you don't have to if you don't want to, we can just wait for a few minutes," you tried to say in a comforting voice, though your shaking probably wasn't that comforting, "I'm sure I'll be able to stand in a few minutes." 

"No, it's okay." 

You looked at Rei in surprise, you had never heard Rei sound so serious. Rei looked down at his fists that were clenched in the sand. 

"After all, if it wasn't for me you wouldn't be like this," Rei said as he stared down at the sand with narrowed eyes. 

"Don't say that Rei, it wasn't your fault, I got myself in this situation, you just wanted to improve and make the others proud, there's no need to blame yourself," you looked down and saw Rei's hand clench even tighter. 

"Rei-"

You felt Rei wrap his arms around you and bury his face in the crook of your neck. You froze for a few seconds before looking down at Rei and his messy blue hair and returning his embrace. 

"Don't worry about it Rei, I'm sure everything will work out." 

You hoped that your words were true, for both you and Rei. 

* * *

"You can't put me down now Rei," you said motioning for him to let you down. 

Rei stopped walking allowing to let you down, you looked up at the taller teen and felt yourself frown at the expression on his face. 

"We should continue looking for them," Rei said snapping you out of your thoughts. 

"Right," you said with a curt nod. 

You looked up at him, it was obvious that the whole situation was affecting him badly, you wanted to say something to him to comfort him but you couldn't think of anything to say that would work, after all, everything else you said in an attempt to comfort him didn't work and might've made things worse. 

You reached your hand over to grab his hand in an attempt to not only comfort him but also yourself. You felt your heart race as your hand got closer to his and you looked up at the blue-haired teen. 

"-Ei! [Y/N]!"

"Wait a second..."

"Isn't that..."

Both you and Rei turned stopped walking and looked at each for a few seconds curious if the voice calling out your names was real or just a figment of your imagination, after all, considering how desperate the two of you were it wasn't hard to believe. 

"[N/N]-chan! Rei-chan!" 

Both you and Rei turned your heads immediately to look at the direction of the voice. 

"Nagisa?!" you and Rei said in unison.

You stared at the short teen, eyes wide in shock before you grew a wide smile, you never thought you'd be so happy to see Nagisa running towards you. 

"Nagisa!!" 

Nagisa ran towards the two of you, stopping just a few inches before you. You opened your mouth to say something but before a word could leave your lips you felt an arm pulling you down. 

You looked at Nagisa and saw him hugging both you and Rei tightly as if he was scared to let you go. 

"N-Nagisa-kun, I-, I'm sorr-" Rei attempted to apologize to Nagisa for his recklessness but was quickly interrupted mid-sentence.

"We can talk about it later Rei-chan, I'm just glad you and [N/N]-chan are okay," Nagisa said his relief in finding the two of you clear in his find. 

"We're glad you okay to Nagisa." 

* * *

"There they are!" Nagisa exclaimed pointing at the two older boys sitting down beneath a shelter protecting them from the rain. 

All three of you ran towards the two teens, relief washing over you at the sight of the familiar two teens. All of the doubts you had regarding their safety disappeared as you got closer to the two.

All five of you huddled underneath the small shelter that you found Makoto and Haru hiding beneath. You winced as you listened to Haru interrupt Rei's apology, you made your best attempts to blend within your background knowing that he would most definitely say something to you. 

Just as you excepted Haru turned his attention to you causing you to flinch under his piercing gaze. You opened your mouth to say something only for nothing to fall from your lips. 

"You shouldn't have attempted to save Rei by yourself," you felt yourself shrink under his gaze. 

It has already happened and you're safe so it shouldn't be a big deal, right? You understand why he would be upset but there wasn't a need to scold you about something that already happened. 

"You should've told us before doing something stupid like going in the water without any help." 

Your eyes narrowed as you listened to him continue to scold you. 

"I yelled for you guys," you exclaimed, digging your foot into the wet grass in an attempt to calm yourself down. You just couldn't stand Haru's scolding tone, everything was done so why did he have to scold you, wasn't it okay that everyone made it out okay?

"I just thought it would be better for me to do something rather than wait for you three to wake up and risk something happening to Rei," you raised your voice louder, the sound of the crashing waves were mute to your ears all you could hear was your heartbeat and the sound of Haru's voice. 

"It was still a stupid thing to do, you might have not been so lucky," Haru's voice got louder it reminded you how he would constantly scold when the two of you were kids. 

What were you supposed to do, just leave Rei to possibly drown in the ocean when you knew very well that you could do something to help? All of your rational thinking went out the window, you knew that he had a point but you just didn't want to think about it.

"Well, we were lucky so stop worrying about it," you crossed your arms and turned away from Haru. You knew you were starting to act unreasonable but you couldn't help yourself. 

All five of you stood in awkward silence as the sound of crashing waves and thunder filled the air and the empty space that was once the conversation, or more accurately titled argument you had with Haru. 

Makoto let out a sigh as he looked between you and Haru he knew that the two of you were not the best when it came to talking to each other, at least at the moment, but he didn't expect the two of you to get into an argument only a few minutes after finding each other.

Makoto clapped his hands together causing everyone to turn their head to his direction. Tilting his head Makoto gave a small smile, "Why don't we all look for shelter, after all, we can't stay on the beach all night, right?" 

You and Haru looked away from Haru and turned your gazes to the sand. You kicked the sand away from your feet and relaxed your shoulders before letting out a short sigh, "I guess we should get off the beach already."

* * *

"Makoto are you alright?" you asked watching Makoto's shoulders turn stiff at your question.   
You and Makoto were walking behind the others as they searched for someplace to hold down for time being.   
He looked calm, too calm.   
You found it hard to believe that he was perfectly fine with everything, you could barely consider yourself fine and considering Makoto's pre-existing fear of the water you were almost completely sure that there was something wrong. 

"Mako-" you stopped midsentence and retracted your hand when you saw Makoto look over his shoulder to give you a smile. 

"Makoto?" 

You stopped in your steps and looked up at the brunette, your heart racing. 

"I'm fine, I'm just glad you're alright." 

You felt your heart start to race at the sight of Makoto's comforting smile, maybe you were a bit paranoid. 

"Um-"

"[N/N]-chan! Mako-chan! Are you coming?"

You looked away from Makoto and turned your gaze to the strawberry blonde waving at you from behind Makoto. 

"Sorry, Nagisa! We're coming!" 

* * *

You felt your eye twitched as you approached the creepy resthouse.

You looked up at the words plastered above the doorway to the old resthouse that you and the others came across.

'Sukishima Resthouse'

_'God, this place is creepy as hell.'_

You stared at the building incredulously taking a step back when you felt someone's hands push your back.

"Come on [N/N]-chan don't be like that," Nagisa said, his voice sounded so cheerful it sounded like he was threatening you.

Nagisa looked at the building in excitement basically bouncing in place despite the other's reservations about the suspicious building. 

_'I knew this was a bad idea.'_

"Ugh, this looks like it came straight out of a teen summer horror b-movie," you narrowed your eyes even more at the dilapidated building.

"D-Don't say stuff like that" 

"Oh, right!" you turned to Makoto and saw him shaking in place behind Haru. 

"Makoto you don't have to worry about the person that's the most scared is always the last person to die in horror movies." 

"You aren't helping!" 

"Let's go inside." 

You watched with wide eyes in disbelief as Nagisa walked into the resthouse following Haru's words with Rei following suit. 

You let out a long sigh before walking in following Rei close behind. You cringed slightly at the feeling of your bare feet hitting the bare ground. 

[E/C] eyes glanced all around the corridor and peeling paint and faded posters that decorated the walls that surrounded you. 

_'This place really does look like someplace a bunch of teens would get killed' _

**"Oh!"**

"Aaahhh! W-What i-is it?" 

"It's a flashlight! Cool!" 

"Will you reel in a little?" 

You slapped the back of Nagisa's head, not that he noticed it. 

"Will you stop that?!" you said, your shoulders stiffening at Nagisa flicking on the newly found flashlight. 

"Oh..." 

You froze in your steps at the teasing tone of Nagisa's voice. 

"Are you scared?" Nagisa asked knowing full well the answer to his question. 

"N-No, o-of course not!" You said turning to look at the teasing male. 

"L-Let's go," you said walking ahead of the others ignoring the teasing look on Nagisa's face.

You stepped on a pile of leaves causing a crackling sound from the crushed leaves under your feet. You let out a high pitch squeak and jumped backward bumping into Nagisa, you could barely see him but you could tell he was holding in his laughter as best to his ability as he could. 

"Fine." 

* * *

"Rei-chan will search the suspicious and gross looking fridge!" Nagisa said, oddly serious and determined for something so small.

You watched the interactions between Nagisa and Rei in amusement stifling in a laugh.

“What?! Why do I get the job most likely to uncover a dead body?"

"Your destiny is tied to your name," Nagisa replied looking oddly serious, "Refrige-**Rei-**tor!"

_'Is he serious?'_

"Don't even- no, you can't make me do it."

_'He's really taking this deadly serious, isn't he?'_

"Who knows what's in there? Something putrescent will ooze out over my fingers-"

"Stop."

_'He really is paranoid about this.'_

"Fine, rock-paper-scissors, loser gets the fridge!" Nagisa said taking you out of your train of thought as you turned to look at him.

"Or third option we can just leave it closed," Rei suggested still hopeful that he wouldn't need to go anywhere near the suspicious fridge.

"C'mon it's the likeliest place to have food," Nagisa replied causing Rei to put an end to his hopeful thinking.

"Maybe, yeah, but there's no electricity."

"So, modern appliances can keep food fresh for hundreds of years even when the powers off!"

"Um, I'm not sure that's how things work Nagisa," you said under your breath.

Your words went ignored as Nagisa raised his fist to start the game of rock-paper-scissors.

You watched as Rei and Makoto reluctantly raised their fists, looking at them you let out a sigh before eventually raising your fist next Rei and Nagisa.

“Rock”

“Paper”

“Scissors!” you felt relief wash over you upon realizing that Rei threw rock while you and the others threw paper.

_'Better him than me'_

"Go Rei!"

Rei reached towards the handles of the refrigerator after much hesitance. You flashed the flashlight onto the fridge to give him light to see.

You felt your heart race as he grabbed the handles and he pulled it open.

Only for there to be nothing inside.

Absolutely nothing, but you could swear you could see your disappointment on the bottom tray.

"That was certainly anticlimactic."

“Oh, thank goodness," Rei breathed out in relief.

“Oh c'mon, nothing? Waste of time," Nagisa breathed out, seeming to be disappointed at the empty fridge.

You let out a sigh.

_'Did he really want to see a corpse or something?'_

* * *

The five of you somehow ended up finding aprons, water, a lantern, and canned pineapple and mackerel.  
_Pineapple and mackerel._  
**...**

Well, it was certainly something, it's better than nothing at all. Still, you couldn't help but look at the pineapple covered mackerel in disgust, beggars can't be choosers but it doesn't mean they can't dislike the things they get stuck with.

You looked outside the transparent glass and saw the rain still pouring down, you knew the others planned to just stay inside until the waters calmed but you couldn't help but feel impatient.

You thought about Kou and Miss A and you dropped your head thinking about them and how peacefully they must be sleeping in the safety of the warm lodge.

You looked down at the orange apron that you wearing given to you by Nagisa and cringed at how ugly it looked. Maybe it's a good thing that this place isn't open anymore.

After watching in disgust as Haru placed pineapple on mackerel you were forced by Haru blank stare to eat the disgusting combination until finally being able to stop after Nagisa spoke up suggesting that you all play a game.

Nagisa was somehow able to make a die, writing your names on its side, however, he wrote poor Rei's name on two sides of the die.

"Does my name really need to be on two sides of that thing, that hardly seems fair?!" Rei exclaimed, not that anyone took note of it.

"Your turn Rei, tell us an embarrassing story," Nagisa said as he sat down next to you.

Despite Nagisa's obvious excitement, it was clear that Rei wasn't exactly a fan of the game despite it just starting.

After much hesitance and some light teasing from Nagisa Rei finally revealed his embarrassing story to the four of you.

"When I was in fifth grade, I can't believe I'm telling you this, I was on a field trip..."

"Everyone saw your underwear?"

"Pfft-"

You held your hand up to your mouth stifling in your laughter.

The next person the dice rolled on was Haru who was asked about a personal romantic encounter.

_'Does Haru even know what romantic means?'_

"Whatever."

You looked in slight shock as Haru stood up and began to speak.

_'Has Haru really had a romantic encounter before?!'_

You took a nervous gulp as you listened to Haru tell his story.

"I was with my parents, we were hiking up a mountain and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, there she was," you held your breath as you continued to listen to hear his story, has Haru really had a romantic encounter before?

"Like nothing I'd ever seen, beyond perfect..."

You continued to listen and you felt your curiosity drown as you soon put the pieces together.

"Are you seriously talking about a waterfall Haru?!"

"Nagisa said to talk about a romantic encount-"

"You seeing a pretty waterfall isn't romantic in the slightest!"

* * *

"[N/N]-chan! It's your turn!"

You took a nervous gulped as you say up straight resting your hands on your thighs.

You knew you would have to go eventually but that didn't mean you weren't nervous about it.

"Hmmn..." Nagisa grabbed his chin thinking about what to ask you.

"Ah!"

You jumped slightly and looked at him with wide eyes.

"So have you ever had a boyfriend before?" Nagisa enthusiastically.

You couldn't help but flinch, not just at his volume but also by his question.

It wasn't that you were hung up on him, well at least not completely, you just didn't know what to say.

Gathering yourself you took a deep breath and looked at the magenta-eyed boy as if his question didn't bother you at all.

"I've had a boyfriend, in fact, I've told you multiple times Nagisa," you said thinking back to all the times you had to take a rain check when trying to hang out with Nagisa.

Caught up in your thoughts you didn't notice everyone edging closer to you, all slightly shocked by the revelation made by you, especially Haru and Makoto.

"Oh, I remember!" Nagisa exclaimed breaking the deep silence caused by your words.

"If you remember why did you ask me the question?"

"I don't think I was listening," you felt your eye twitch at his words.

"It's nice to know that you're listening to me when it matters," you said in annoyance.

Makoto and Haru looked at you as you talked to Nagisa in complete shock, the whole idea of you having dated before wasn't hard to believe, it made sense that you would date they just didn't want to believe that you had dated someone.

"So who was your boyfriend?" Nagisa asked.

You let out a sigh, "He really never listened to you when you talked about him.

You let out another long sigh before relenting and saying his name.

"His name is Sousuke Yamazaki..."

You felt your heart sink as his name slipped from your lips.

You looked down at your clenched hands not noticing the awkward silence caused by your reveal.

"Uhm... Makoto-senpai... Do you mind if I asked you a question? When you tried to save me earlier you- how do I put this? You were acting somewhat out of character"

As soon as he said that old memories began to pop into your head as well as the recent memory of how he looked earlier when you first tried to save Rei.

"Drop the subject!"

You couldn't help but flinch at the way Haru spoke. You immediately looked away from your hands and at Rei, your heart clenched at the hurt look on his face, Rei didn't know about Makoto's feelings on the water but you couldn't blame Haru for reacting the way he did.

Makoto began to tell all of you the reason why he reacted the way he did in the ocean and you couldn't help but feel happy for Makoto, he'd been hiding it from them because he cared about them and he didn't want to ruin things for them but he actually decided to tell them the truth.

"Look the rain finally stopped," Nagisa brought you back to earth away from your thoughts

You watched as they got up to look outside, watching them all leave you felt a surge of courage and you got up to your feet and grabbed Haru's hand.

Everybody else was walking out and they failed to notice the absence of you and Haru, this is the perfect moment.

It's now or never.

"Is something wrong?"

"I'm sorry Haru!"

"Huh?"

You refused to look Haru in the eye as you continued with your apology.

"I'm sorry for ruining our friendship, everything I said to you that day, it- it wasn't right and I never should've said any of those things," you voiced trembled and you felt tears well up in the corners of your eyes.

"I-I'm sorry-"

You felt a hand ruffle your hair causing you to look up, tears in your eyes.

"H-Haru?"

"I'm sorry too," Haru said looking away from you.

"I didn't try to understand why you were mad at me, I just got upset at you and never even bothered to talk to you," Haru said turning to look at you.

You didn't know what to say.

For four years now you've been avoiding Haru and the two of you were able to talk without walking away just like that.

You wanted to feel mad and hit yourself for how stupid you were for avoiding talking to him for so long.

"Hey, is there something wrong [Y/N]-"

"No, it's nothing," you looked up at Haru gave him a small but warm smile.

You didn't notice the warm pink tinge that grew on his cheeks.

"[N/N]! Haru-chan! Come out here!" Nagisa said interrupting you and Haru.

"C-Coming! C'mon Haru!" you grabbed Haru's hand and quickly ran out of the building pulling Haru's hand towards the rest of the group.

You looked up at what Nagisa was pointing at, the sky looked absolutely beautiful.

It took your breath away.

You didn't what you were feeling at the moment but all you knew was that it was a feeling you'd never forget.

* * *

**a.n.**

longest chapter i've ever written (wow!)

reader's ex-boyfriend that i alluded to is revealed not that i made it subtle in the slightest but yeah reader's ex is sousuke.

also, the reason why reader and haru stopped being close is small but people grow apart for small reasons all it's really anti-climatic but making up with friends isn't always dramatic (i guess)

and now reader and haru won't be so awkward together so yeah

anyways thanks for reading and please comment if you want to and tell me what you think of this chapter : )

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a.n.
> 
> longest chapter i've ever written (wow!)
> 
> reader's ex-boyfriend that i aluded to is revealed not that i made it subtle in the slightest but yeah reader's ex is sousuke.
> 
> also the reason why reader and haru stopped being close is small but people grow apart for small reasons all it's really anti climatic but making up with friends isn't always dramatic (i guess)
> 
> and now reader and haru won't be so awkward together so yeah
> 
> anyways thanks for reading and please comment if you want to and tell me what you think of this chapter : )


	20. CHAPTER NINETEEN | MEET UP

You were in a peaceful deep sleep- At least you were until you were woken by the sound of a high pitched ding illuminating your nightstand before the light disappeared as the screen of your phone turned to black.

It was your Saturday, a free day for you so you were under the impression that you could actually get some sleep **but** it seems as if **some people** didn’t get the message. 

You out a long over-exaggerated groan before opening your eyes to the dark that engulfed your room. You moved your hand over to your nightstand reaching your hand over to get the cold phone in your hands. 

You let out another over-exaggerated groan and pressed your thumb against the power button, cringing back and squinting your eyes at the bright light radiating from the phone in your hand.

Still squinting at the bright light coming from your phone you let go of the phone dropping it on your face as you attempted to cover your eyes with both of your hands.

You let out a small sound of pain as you felt the cold device fall on your face, you let out a sigh after a minute of the phone on your face before sitting up in your bed causing it to fall down into your lap. Reaching your hand over to your nightstand you turned on the small lamp that rested on the small nightstand beside your bed. 

From the corner of your eyes, you watched as the faint light coming from the small lamp lit up the rest of your room. You rubbed your eyes before opening them, everything around you looked blurry as you attempted to focus your eyes on the small phone in your lap. 

You glared down at the phone that was the source of your annoyance and early rising that you hadn’t planned. You turned your head and looked around your room for a few minutes with a blank stare until returning your absentminded gaze to your lap.

Letting out a sigh you picked up your phone and looked down at the notification that woke you up.

**‘Rin’**

_‘Hey [Y/N] can you meet me at the mall today?’_

You let out a sigh at the sight of the text before responding with a simple ‘sure’ and time. 

You returned your phone to the nightstand beside your bed before attempting to return back to your sleep by falling back on your bed. 

Pulling a pillow out from under your head you shoved your face into the soft white pillow as you closed your eyes trying to ignore the feeling of your body starting to wake. 

After a few minutes, you finally felt your eyelids start to grow heavy. You slowly began to drift back to sleep- until you were interrupted by the sound of obnoxious music that belonged to your alarm began to fill the quiet room causing you to pull your pillow tighter to your face and scream into it out of frustration. 

* * *

You listened to the sound of your footsteps that filled the silence that surrounded around you as you walked towards the small restaurant that sat a few minutes away from your house. 

Slouching, you looked up at the building you were standing in front of, it was a familiar restaurant with a neat sign that read : ‘[L/N]’s’. 

You let out a sigh and placed your hand on the handle of the door and pulled it open causing the bell that rested above it to ring alerting a familiar brunette of your appearance.

Rina watched in confusion as you lazily walked over to the counter to sit down and rest your head. 

You let out a groan as you rest your head on the cold counter, not sure about your plans for the day, you thought it would be a nice peaceful day for the weekend but it seems as if Rin didn’t understand that was what you were interested in. 

Hearing footsteps approaching you, you let out a groan into the counter ignoring the cold counter and weird stares and murmurs from nearby diners. 

“Well, if it isn’t Miss [L/N]~” Rina looked down at you with a teasing grin on her face.

You turned your head to the side continuing to ignore the older girl as you closed your eyes trying to push your stressful thoughts from your head. 

Your eye twitched as Rina began to poke the side of your head in an attempt to get your attention, you tried your best to ignore her by taking a deep breath and closing your eyes tightly. 

Rina stopped her poking and you let out a soft sigh of relief. 

She was finally done annoying you and you couldn’t be any happier- too bad she continued with her poking only a few seconds later much to your annoyance. 

Turning your head slightly you opened your eyes and looked up and glared at the teasing brunette. 

Was she ever not annoying?

“Ah, so you’re finally awake!”

You groaned at the unbearably cheerful tone of her voice and sat up straight, turning your head to look at her over your shoulder. 

You were only able to look at the brown-eyed girl for a few seconds before she turned your seat around to face her, she looked as cheerful as ever. 

Taking a seat next to you she quickly spun your chair to face her once again causing you to grab your mouth out of dizziness. 

“Isn’t it your day off?” Rina asked with her head pointed towards the ceiling ignoring your piercing glare.

She was either oblivious to your annoyance with her or she really didn’t care. 

“Shut up.”

* * *

**“So that all?” **Rina asked in disbelief. 

She didn’t think that reasoning behind your stressed-out state to be from simple plans to meet up with Rin. 

She seemed genuinely confused over your nervous state regarding your plans “So Rin asked you out on a date?” You brushed a stray strand of hair from your eyes. “I thought it would’ve been something more serious that stresses you out so much.”

“He didn’t,” you paused, “He didn’t ask me out on a date, he just wants to talk.” you turned away from the brunette and let out a sigh before turning your head to look at the counter in front of you. 

“Of course, whatever you say,” you laid your face on the counter and let out a long groan before standing up out of your chair. 

“Are you always so annoying?”

“I’ve been told it’s part of my charm.”

* * *

The loud chatter between nearby shoppers passing by the maroon-haired teen went unnoticed as he stared down at his phone looking at the time before looking back at the messages exchanged between him and a certain [h/c]-haired girl. 

Letting out a sigh Rin leaned against the stone wall behind him and looked up at the roof of the building and pressed his phone to his forehead. 

“Rin!”

Hearing a familiar voice call out his name from a distance Rin immediately stood up straight from the wall and turned an unclear figure in the direction he was looking at. He squinted his eyes trying to get a clear image of the figure he suspected to have called his name, he watched as the blurry figure got clearer and bigger as they got closer and closer. 

“[Y/N]?”

You made a sudden stop in front of Rin feeling nearly bumping into the teen you intended to meet, you stopped just a few inches in front of him. 

The moment you stopped in front of him the exhaustion that you felt from your running that you ignored began to finally get noticed by the rest of your body. 

You were completely out of breath, you could barely notice the very person you ran to. 

You placed your hands on your knees and faced your head down to the ground, eyes on the cracked concrete sidewalk beneath you as your heavy breathing began to fill your ears.

Taking a deep breath you placed your hand on your chest and gripped the cloth above your chest before looking up at the taller male with a small smile. 

**“So-”**

Both you and Rin looked at each other in surprise as the two of you spoke in unison causing the both of you to close your mouths and end your sentence to each other short. 

“I’m sorry for being late,” you apologized, bowing your head with eyes tightly shut. 

“Um, It’s, uh,” Rin rubbed the back of his head as he mumbled trying to think about what to say. 

“Hey look over there!”

Rin looked up from his flustered gaze and looked at pointing at a nearby store. Hearing no response from the maroon-haired teen you grabbed his hand and pulled him behind you as you ran over to the small shop. 

Rin let out a sigh as he watched you pull him along, this isn’t ending up like how he planned, not that he planned it much in the first place. 

* * *

Rin watched you with a small frown as you ate the cake in front of you with a satisfied smile. Rin rested his chin in his hand and let out a long sigh as he started to contemplate how his plans for today hasn’t exactly gone exactly how he planned for it to go. 

Rin let out a short sigh and poked around the small cake on his plate in front of him before lifting his head to look up and see you enjoying your cake with a cheerful smile. A small smile danced across Rin’s face as he looked at you ignoring the negative thoughts that filled his mind. 

The cheerful atmosphere that filled the restaurant combined with the smile on your face was more than enough to make all of his troubled thoughts disappear for a moment. 

While eating you felt eyes staring at you causing you to stop eating and put down your fork reluctantly after much hesitance. You looked up in front of you and saw Rin looking at you with a small tinge of pink on his cheeks that you didn’t notice due to your own embarrassment which caused you to look away almost immediately out of your own embarrassment, trying your best to avoid eye contact with the tall teen. 

It was certainly a sight for anybody in the restaurant, the sight of two flustered teens avoiding eye contact glowing a bright red would certainly be amusing to anybody. 

The next few minutes would consist of you and Rin avoiding eye contact while glowing a bright red and picking your food and unnecessarily mixing your drinks to create small whirlpools. You did anything and everything to avoid eye contact and conversation with Rin. 

Realizing that you couldn't avoid Rin for long, especially considering the fact that you were sitting just across from him, you took a deep breath and hesitantly looked up, a pink tinge painted on your cheeks.

"Sorry about being late Rin" you apologized with a nervous smile, "By the way Rin,"

Rin looked up as you began to talk, "Why did you ask to meet up? Was there something you wanted to talk about?" 

You tilted your head to the side slightly confusion. 

"W-What?"

You let out a small laugh that soon grew as you watched Rin's nervous state, his cheeks began to heat up even more than they already were. 

You were laughing so maybe his plans weren't completely for naught. 

* * *

After a few hours of walking around the mall with Rin, the sky changed the soft blue canvas was soon covered by hues of a soft pink and orange causing your surroundings to be lit up with a soft orange light, giving them a warm tone. 

It was a calming time for you and the silence that filled the space between the two of you gave you a sense of calmness rather than the uncomfortable awkwardness that usually filled the silence between you and your childhood friend. 

"Thanks for today," you looked up at him with a small smile as you broke the silence that filled the air. 

"I know that you probably didn't ask to meet up just for me to drag you around the mall but I still want to say thanks."

You let out a short soft sigh and turned your gaze to your feet. 

"It was nice," you looked up at him and looked to the side with a small smile, "it reminded me of-" you stopped walking, ending your sentence short as a familiar teal-eyed teen came to your mind. You didn't know what to say, you wanted to finish your sentence but you couldn't bring yourself to mention his name. Fortunately, Rin interrupted you out of nowhere looking forward at the path in front of him. 

"Likewise, it was nice to talk like that again, we haven't talked like that since we were kids." 

He barely said anything and it wasn't anything special but it was enough to calm your thoughts. It was enough to return the calm silence that occupied the space between you and Rin. 

The rest of the walk to your house consisted of silence between you and Rin and your soft footsteps on the stone sidewalk along with the sounds of distant waves crashing onto each other. 

It was peaceful and calming. 

"Looks like we're here already."

You stopped just in front of the steps of your house. It was a surprisingly quick walk, you didn't expect to get there so quickly but it seems as if time passed quicker walking beside Rin. 

You felt better than you had when the day had started. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a.n.
> 
> rin is best boy material 
> 
> also sousuke is kind of brought up but not really 
> 
> btw it's also cool that this book is now at 100 pages
> 
> sorry this update is late it was christmas and all that stuff so yeah but i did get a new computer for christmas so i'll be able to write quicker and post a lot more than i usually do(it takes me a while because the computer i used was really old and turned off every five minutes)
> 
> anyways thanks for reading and please comment if you want to and tell me what you think of this chapter : )


	21. CHAPTER TWENTY | APOLOGY CAKE

"So since egg yolk is basically chicken before they are fully developed does that mean we are eating ourselves?" 

You looked at Narumi in amused disbelief as she went on with her 'interesting' questions, a confused and fascinated expression clear on her face. She sounded so genuine in her words that you had no idea how to respond to her. 

"I'm not quite sure that's how it works," you said as you nervously laughed before turning your attention to the side as you continue with your shopping. 

Narumi opened her mouth to say something but stopped as she caught the color blue from the corner of her eye, she looked away from you to the side and saw a familiar underclassman. 

_'What is he doing?'_

She squinted her eyes leaned forward as she tried to make out what he was doing without much success. She let out a sigh and reached over to you without taking her eyes off of the underclassman. 

Feeling a light tug on the sleeve of your shirt you looked away from the shelf in front and looked over your shoulder to see Narumi looking forward with her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Is there something wron-"

Your best friend interrupted you mid-sentence by grabbing your hand, you let out a small surprised yelp as you felt yourself be pulled forward as if you were as light as a feather. She sped her steps up, tugging you behind her with no intent to let go of your hand. 

You finally felt her strong grip around her hand loosen as she stopped causing you to bump against her back. You let out an annoyed groan and placed your hand in front of your nose, rubbing it as you glared daggers into the brunette's back. 

"What was that abou-"

"What are you doing here Rei-kun?" Narumi exclaimed cutting you off and ignoring the glare you directed in her direction. 

Turning your head up you saw Rei standing uncomfortably stiff, rather awkwardly you might add. He looked as if he was frozen in place with how still he was being, it was hard to believe he wasn't a statue. 

You glanced down and noticed Rei hiding his hands behind his back, there was definitely something there, there was definitely something he was trying to hide from you and he wasn't exactly doing a good job of hiding it. 

Ignoring your curiosity you shook your head trying to shake the curiosity from your mind. You turned your body to face Narumi only to see her walking towards Rei with a mischevious grin on her face. 

She attempted to look behind Rei's back to see what he was hiding only for Rei to jump back in surprise upon finally noticing her presence. 

Rei let out a small squeak before turning around completely to hold what was in his hands properly to make sure it wasn't damaged. 

Once he let out a sigh of relief he opened his mouth to speak with his voice cracking with the first few words until he cleared his throat, "W-What are you two doing here?" 

The tips of Rei's ears were burning as they were covered by a bright red tint that made you feel sort of bad for him if it wasn't a somewhat amusing sight for you. 

"So what are you doing buying a cake?" 

Reacting to the brunette's words Rei's body was somehow able to go even stiffer than it already was, he looked as of he was a robot that was in a need for grease. 

With a snap of her fingers a look of realization appeared on the brunette teen's face, she turned her head to look at the blue haired male and she felt a grin snake it's way to her lips. 

Rei took a step back in surprise as he was suddenly approached by Narumi was far to close for comfort. He looked down at the older teen with nervous eyes. 

She playfully nudged his shoulder and raised her eyebrows, "I know, you're buying something for your girlfriend, right?"

Rei's face began to glow a scarlet hue as steam began to rise from his head.

"N-No, it's not like tha-" 

"So is it a boyfriend then?" 

Rei became even more flustered than he already was, if that was even possible. Rei opened his mouth in an attempt to say something in response to Narumi's teasing only for stuttered and jumbled up words to fall from his lips.

Tired of watching the two you let out a sigh and took a few steps towards the two, gripping the back of your friend's shirt to pull her away from the poor flustered teen who was unable to form full sentences.

She let out a small yelp as she began to jokingly whine, something that you decided to block out in favor of your own voice as you turned your back to the blue haired teen making your way out of the store.

You turned your head looking over your shoulder and flashed a small smile along with a small wave at the bespectacled teen.

"Sorry about that Rei, I'll talk to you later!"

You turned back to the taller brunette and your eyebrows furrowed at the look on her face. 

There was a suggestive and teasing smirk that decorated the high school student's lips that led you to sending a piercing glare into her direction, not that she cared mind you. 

Blood rushed its way up to your cheeks causing them to be painted by a bright red which only warranted even more teasing from the taller girl.

"He was getting awfully nervous wasn't he [N/N]-chan?"

"Shut up already."

* * *

You looked over your shoulder and saw a familiar blue-haired underclassman running towards you. 

You stopped in place and turned around completely, waiting in place for the bespectacled teen to stop in front of you. 

Stopping in front of you he turned his back to you and began to dig into his bag for something he obviously didn't want to show, well at least not yet. 

"Found it!"

You looked up at the back of his head, your body turning stiff in surprise for a few seconds before he turned around to look at your face to face. 

He was excited, a small smile graced his lips as he bounced in place. 

"This is for you [Y/N]-senpai!" Rei bowed his head as he pushed a small container containing a small slice of cake close to your face.

"What is this for?" you asked, taking the cake from his hands looking down at the sweet with slight confusion. 

"I'm sorry about what happened."

You blanked out for a few seconds as you racked your brain for an explanation for his sudden apology. Nope, you couldn't think of anything. 

"I'm sorry about what happened during the training camp."

That's what he's apologizing for. 

You looked up at Rei and interrupted him, "I already told you there's no need to apologize-"

"I know you don't think it's my fault but I still want to apologize."

You turned your head down from Rei to the plastic container in your hand and felt your lips curl up slightly into a small smile. 

"Thank you, Rei."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a.n.
> 
> i love rei and i finally got to write for him
> 
> sorry this is a pretty late update and it's also pretty short, i've been sick and busy and i'm also sick again so the next chapter might be late but idk
> 
> anyways thanks for reading, please comment on what you thought of this chapter if you want to : )


	22. CHAPTER TWENTY ONE | ANOTHER MEET UP

“Well, he’s certainly doing a lot better than he was before,” you remarked to Makoto as you watched the underclassman swim. 

Rei was hard at work practicing the only stroke that he could really do which was the butterfly. You thought after what happened on the island his swimming would’ve gotten worse but as you watched him swim it appeared to you that he’s caught onto the butterfly rather quickly. 

It made sense that Rei would gravitate towards the butterfly stroke considering it is rather aesthetically pleasing to watch but at the same time it was interesting that the butterfly of all strokes would be the only style Rei could swim. 

“Rei’s dedication is impressive and he’s in great shape and his timing is pretty good,” Kou said while looking down at her notes. 

“I see your quite the capable manager,” you winked at Kou. 

Kou looked down at you with a small smile and a light pink hue decorating her cheeks. 

“You’re giving me far too much credit, You’ve helped quite a bit as well,” 

“I really haven’t done mu-” your response to Kou was interrupted mid-sentence by muffled ringing coming from a few feet away. 

You stood up and dug into your bag for your ringing phone eventually pulling it out causing the formerly muffled ringing to become clear. You looked down at the caller and was pleasantly surprised by who the caller was. 

** _‘Rin’ _ **

You answered the call without hesitation, “Hello-”

“Can we meet up!” Rin asked yelling through his phone. 

You were so surprised by the volume of his voice that you almost dropped your phone, you struggled to catch your phone as you juggled it in an attempt to get a grip on it. 

“W-What?” you asked.

“I-” you heard Rin let out a sigh, “Can you just meet with me?”

“Are you going to tell me why you want me to meet you?” you asked. 

“Can you just meet me at the train station?” 

You quiet for a few seconds, it was obvious to you that he wasn’t going to come clean and tell you why exactly he wanted to speak to you. Letting out a short sigh you kicked at the air in front of you and responded, “I’ll meet you there in an hour,” 

Hearing no response from the Matsuoka you let out a sound of concern before saying his name in an attempt to catch his attention. 

“Rin, is something wro-”

You heard a loud thud coming from the other side of the phone along with a concerned voice. 

“Matsuoka-Senpai are you alright?!”

“Be quiet Niitori!”

You let out a laugh as you listened to the back and forth between Rin and the concerned voice on the other end. 

“I’ll see you in an hour Rin,” you sang before hanging up. 

Rin turned his head at the sound of the call ending and internally cringed as he realized you heard everything that just happened. 

He stood up and picked up his phone and let out a long sigh as he facepalmed, his face burning from embarrassment. 

“Matsuoka-senpai?”

“It’s nothing,” Rin replied, his back still facing his younger roommate. 

“Senpai…” Niitori mumbled under his breath as he watched his upperclassman get dressed to go out. 

Rin was preoccupied by his thoughts to notice Niitori’s staring, instead of noticing his roommate’s staring his mind was occupied with the memory of his reaction after hearing your response to his request(though it sounded more like an order at first). 

“I’ll be back.”

Rin walked towards the door and gave a small wave without looking back and walked out of his dorm ignoring Niitori’s questions leaving the younger teen more confused than he was when he walked in to see his roommate on the floor. 

* * *

Rin groaned in his plans upon reaching the train station. He had only just remembered that you told him that you’d meet him in an hour but he was so embarrassed at the moment that he left only a few minutes after you told him that. That being said that just caused him to be even more embarrassed than he already was. 

He was always awkward around you. 

He already knew why he was always so awkward around you but he didn’t understand why he seemed to be compelled to do stupid things after talking to you. 

Letting out a long sigh he dug through his pocket to pull out his phone and find the time. 

‘3:42 pm’

Rin groaned softly as he leaned back on the stone wall behind him. He had to wait for a while but he thought he might as well think about what he could say when you finally showed up. 

He couldn’t think of what to say when you would arrive. 

Why would he? After all, he called you and asked to meet with you on a whim with no other reason for asking to meet up other than wanting to talk to you but he couldn’t just say that directly to you. 

How would you take him just telling you that he called you just because he had a sudden urge to see your face and hear your voice?

Time passed by quickly as Rin was occupied by his thoughts and before he could realize it he was interrupted by a light tap on his shoulder causing him to jump up from the stone wall in surprise. 

Turning his head to the right to see the person who separated him from his thoughts he was pleasantly surprised to see you holding your hand to your mouth. 

Your face was red from holding in your laughter before finally letting your hand fall from your mouth to your side, holding your sides. 

“What is it?” Rin asked. 

“The look on your face was hilarious!” you managed to say in between your laughter. 

Rin’s face began to glow a bright red causing you to laugh even harder than you already were catching the attention of other passersby. 

Your laughter began to cease after a few minutes of laughing at the expense of Rin. 

You wiped a tear from your eye and looked up at Rin with a teasing grin, “Are you blushing?”

Rin looked ar you, an offended expression on your face, “O-Of course n-not!” Rin exclaimed, his voice cracking near the end. 

“Of course you’re not,” you said waving off Rin’s claims of denial. 

“I said I’m not blushing!”

“And I said, of course, you’re not,” you let out a small chuckle. 

“So, what did you want to talk to me about?” you asked stretching out the word ‘so’. 

Rin froze for a few seconds before turning his back to you hiding the spaced-out look on his face. Rin racked his brain for idea onto what to say, he felt as if it was on the tip of his tongue but he couldn’t figure out what to say. 

Taking a deep breath Rin turned to look at you and said the first thing that came to his mind. 

“How would you react if I said I like you?” Rin asked turning his head away as he got near the end of his question. 

You tilted your head in confusion and looked up at the taller teen with a raised eyebrow, “I’d say I feel the same of course.”

Rin looked at you completely surprised by your response, “Really? Do you mean th-”

Before he could finish his sentence he was interrupted by you making a statement that just caused him to disappoint him. 

“Of course, we’re friends after all!”

Rin looked at you with a blank stare before dropping his head in disappointment. 

“Why am I not surprised that’s what you meant?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a.n.
> 
> reader is hella dense and it stresses rin out 
> 
> sorry i haven't been updating i've just been having pretty shitty writer's block, specifically with this story. i'm going to continue to write this it's just that i haven't been interested in it as i usually am, but i'm rewatching free again so i should be updating it soon(i'm already working on the next chapter)
> 
> there's going to be some haru and makoto moments and maybe some nagisa moments in the next chapter
> 
> anyways thanks for reading and please comment what you think if you want to : )


	23. CHAPTER TWENTY TWO | PREFECTURAL TOURNAMENT

"Hey there guys," looking up from your food you saw Kou looking down at you with a small smile on her face. 

You turned your gaze down towards to notice her holding a small envelope in her hands, noticing your wandering eyes Kou let out a soft chuckle before kneeling down in front of Haru.

"Guess who got pictures from training camp all printed out~"

Pulling the photos out of the small white envelope in her possession she laid them all out of the ground in front of her for all of you to see making you wonder how and when was able to take so many pictures.

"Hang on a sec, this is strange."

"Hmm? What is it Nagisa?" you turned to look at Nagisa who was staring down at a photo in his hands with a strangely serious expression.

"Mako-chan's got some weird creature behind him," Nagisa said raising his hand to his face. 

You listened to Makoto let out a scared shriek as he clung onto you as if trying to hide behind you to avoid looking at the photo being shown by Nagisa. 

You let out a short sigh before it quickly turned into a teasing smirk. 

Turning to Makoto with a look of mock surprise you pointed behind him towards the door with a shaky finger, "M-Makoto what's that b-behind you!"

"What is it?!" Makoto turned almost immediately to look at the door giving you the opportunity to suddenly grab his shoulders and whisper into his ear. 

"Boo."

With his face as pale as a ghost jumped up in shock before turning back to you to bury his face in your shoulder. Bringing your hand to your mouth you let out a muffled laugh, as you attempted to ignore the amusement you were feeling from the situation.

"Why do you keep doing that?" he asked, his voice in a surprisingly high pitched voice. 

"It's because your reactions are always so cute," you explained with a blank face as if it was obvious. 

A few seconds passed with Makoto staring back at you for a few seconds without any sign of a reaction to your words. After five seconds it seemed as if your words finally began to sink and reach Makoto's ears as his face slowly turned to a peach pink to a burning cherry red. 

Makoto attempted to speak only for mumbled gibberish to fall from his lips leading you to smile at him in amusement causing his face to become more and more flushed by the second. 

"Makoto-senpai are you alright?" Rei tilted his head in concern for his upperclassman not noticing the bright red hue that decorated the older teen's cheeks. 

"I-I-"

Makoto was barely able to get anything out before Nagisa commented on his flushed expression causing the red hue that decorated his cheeks to somehow intensify. 

"Wow, that's impressive," Nagisa remarked with a rather impressed smile making it's way to show itself on his lips, "How are you able to do that every time?"

You blinked and shrugged your shoulders not sure what exactly to say, "What do you mean by that?"

Nagisa laughed, taken aback slightly at your blunt response, "Never mind [Y/N]-chan!", he said brushing off the confused expression directed towards him. 

Kou interrupted the two of you and gave out the useful information of who in Samezuka would be swimming and what they would be swimming. 

You let out a sigh and leaned back onto the stone wall while you looked at both Makoto and Nagisa with a small and smile as they eagerly inched towards Kou to listen to the information gathered during the training camp.

You looked at Haru from the corner of your eyes and saw him looking intensely at the picture in his hand.

Curious, you peaked over his shoulder to see what was so interesting about the picture in his hand. You felt the corners of your mouth move upright slightly causing a subtle smile to grace your lips. 

Feeling eyes on him Haru looked over his shoulder and saw you looking at him with a small smile while your eyes twinkled with amusement.

Haru's eyebrow arched subtly but didn't go unnoticed by you, "What is it?" he asked tilting his head to the side as his eyes narrowed slightly. 

You laughed, "You act as if you don't care but it's obvious that you do."

Haru huffed and turned away not even bothering to object anything that you said. 

"You can act like you don't care but I know the truth~" you sang, not noticing the nearly transparent pink hue that painted the tips of his ears.

Haru scoffed. 

You couldn't help but smile and give out a soft laugh that you quickly muffled with your hand.

"Cute."

You saw Haru stiffen slightly, you inched closer towards him and heard him whisper a familiar word under his breath.

_"Cute..."_

You laughed lightly and smiled at him. 

_"He's definitely cute," _you whispered under your breath while looking at the back of the stoic teen unaware of the fact that he had heard what you thought only you could hear as clear as day. 

* * *

You let out while you scribbled onto the clipboard in your hands, the ambiance of shoes squeaking across the gym floor and volleyballs being slammed to the gym floor filled your ears but failed to do their job of taking your mind off of the thoughts that caused you unnecessary stress.

Annoyed by your stress-filled thoughts you scribbled even harder onto the paper that covered the clipboard causing your pencil break but not before ripping a large tear into the paper and an obnoxiously large swatch of grey in the middle of your clipboard. 

You glared at the clipboard, not noticing the sound of feet hitting the floor begin to sound more and more prominent as they approached you. 

Kenji raised his hand and opened his mouth to speak but before anything could come out of his mouth he was interrupted by you throwing your clipboard to the side of you on the bench. 

Kenji and Akihito nearly jumped out of their skin at the sound of the clipboard slamming against the bench with Akihito letting out a high pitched shriek. 

You quickly whipped your head towards the sound of the scream and looked up at the taller boy, eyes wide with shock and surprise. 

All three of you stared at each other in complete silence for a few seconds until you narrowed your eyes to send a sharp glare towards the two.

"Yes?" you said with a shake of your head- though it sounded more like a demand rather than a question.

"Are you okay?"

Seeing the brunette's arched brow you raised your own and tilted your head and inched towards the brunette as you played with your hands. 

"No...?" you said stretching out the word and making it sound more like a question rather than an answer.

"Why do you ask?"

Kenji pointed his thumb behind him towards the rest of the team, "Because you've been glaring at the rest of the team for the past 45 minutes."

You raised a brow and peaked behind Kenji to see a few first years staring at you with wide eyes. They immediately took notice of you and turned away with panic expression on their faces. 

"Was I really glaring and for so long?" you asked in a concerned tone. 

You looked back and forth at the two to see them hesitantly nod yes making you wonder what you've look like the past 45 minutes. 

"Natsukawa thought you were plotting to kill him and Ito almost peed his pants," Kenji lightly laughed as he looked back at the two first years who looked like they were going to jump out of their skin. 

"You should do that more often."

You rolled your eyes. "Are you always so annoying?"

"I've been told it's part of my charm."

Akihito let out a sigh. "Anyway, what were you thinking about?" he asked, glancing towards you in an attempt to return back to the original topic of the conversation. 

"Oh. I-..."

You looked away from the two and began to mutter making everything that fell from your mouth nearly impossible to decipher and understand. 

"What?" Akihito and Kenji inched closer to you.

"It's abou-..."

"Huh?" the two teens cupped their ears and inched closer to you once again still not able to understand a single thing that was falling from your mouth. 

"I said it's about...-in...-ment..."

Akihito sighed quietly and backed up having given up hope on understanding anything that you were trying to say while Kenji inched even closer to you. Terrible mistake. You whipped your head forward so quickly that just the sight of the action was enough to give anyone whiplash and cause the nosy brunette to almost let out a high pitch shriek which was put off by you speaking in a voice loud enough to scare him but not enough to catch the attention of the practicing players. 

**"Get out of my face!"**

Naturally, the aforementioned jumped away almost immediately, jumping nearly a foot in the air out of fear.

"What was tha-!" Kenji exclaimed abruptly before Akihito swiped a hand against the brunette's mouth, raising a finger to his mouth to tell the shorter teen to be quiet down. 

Kenji glanced at the black haired teen up and down. Deep brown hues falling on the annoyed teen's annoyed face until the brunette let out a sigh, finally annoyed by the contact by the taller teen. 

"Ahem."

He turned away and narrowed his eyes at you.

"Why did you have to yell?!"

"Why did you have to get in my face?!"

The both of you growled at each other. 

Akihito groaned into his hands at the scene between the two of you unraveling in front of him wondering how exactly the conversation between the three of you turned out to what it is now. 

"Anyways, what were you thinking about?" Akihito let out a deep sigh at the question he had to ask once again to get the question back on track. 

"I'm worried about what going to happen between Haru and Rin at the prefectural tournament tomorrow."

There's a moment of silence between all three of you as you ignored the sound of sneak squeaking against the gym floor. 

"You know, I should get back to practice." 

Your eye twitched.

Kenji is only able to walk a short distance before being pulled back by Akihito's strong grip on his wrist. 

You glared daggers at the back of the brunette's head as he was being held back from leaving by the taller of the two. Reaching under the bench where you've been sitting you throw your water bottle at the back of his head catching it as it bounced back to you. 

"Look," he let out a sigh, "I don't mean to be rude or anything but it's Haru and Rin." He paused and gave you a knowing look. "They were already 'them' when they were younger and considering how they are now I don't think there's much you can do now other than let this whole thing between the two of them run its course."

You blink, staring up at him blankly. 

"That is arguably the worst advice I've ever heard in my entire life."

Kenji's eye twitched. "Look it's Haru and Rin. How am I supposed to know what would prevent them from fighting? I haven't seen Rin in over five years and the longest conversation I've ever had with Haru was in middle and it was about how my mom burned the mackerel in my lunch."

You let out a long sigh and do the only thing you can think of doing at the moment and that is just to bury your face in your hands and pretend as if nothing's going wrong. 

"You should just talk to them." 

You glance up to see Akihito giving you a small but warm smile. 

"It probably won't make them more 'friendly' to each other in a sense but I'm sure it'll calm your worries down a little."

Kenji sighed. 

"Do you want me to punch you?"

"I didn't even say anything!" he looked at you, his expression worried and shocked. 

"I already know you're thinking of something smart to say!" looking up you narrowed your eyes as you examined the brunette boy in front of you.

"I was just thinking it'd be good for you to get some sort of closure-"

You sighed in relief.

"-It also might be nice for you to talk to Haru considering the crush you had on him when we were kids," he finished as he turned his gaze back down to you. 

You were somehow able to sharpen even more as you narrowed them in annoyance, your eyes nearly disappearing in your growing annoyance. 

You slowly turn your head, your movements as stiff as a robot. You laid your eyes on the jumpy black-haired teen, Akihito nearly jumped out of his skin as your gaze fell on him. 

"Akihito."

"Y-Yes?"

Without saying a word you abruptly tore the volleyball from his hands, glaring at him as he attempted to speak up causing him to shrink in response. 

Akihito watched in horror as you bounced the volleyball off the ground, throwing it down as hard you can, causing it to bounce off the face of an unaware brunette. 

He could practically feel the volleyball hitting Kenji like a bullet as he fell to the floor. He stiffened and watched in horror as his friend fell to the floor. 

"Okay," Kenji said through pained grunts, "I deserved that."

* * *

"Hmn?" Makoto bats his eyelids rapidly,. squinting at the blur in front of him with narrowed eyes. Makoto looked painfully confused at the sight as he inched forward to get a better look at the sight in front of him.

As the blur grew in size the blur became more and more clear until Makoto could clearly make it out to be you running towards him. 

Stopping only a few inches in front of him he flinched, eyes wide in surprise. A few seconds pass before he shows any signs of a reaction. Eyes wide, he makes a movement to speak only for you to raise a finger to push against his lips.

"I-Is Haru... -Ere?" you said in between heavy breaths as you attempted to catch your breath, resting your hands on your knees while you looked down at your feet. 

Makoto blinks. "Yeah, Haru's still swimming, I'm waiting for him to finish-"

"Go home!" You interrupt Makoto mid-sentence much to his confusion. 

He tilted his head to the side and blinked rapidly as the look on his face changed to reflect someone extremely confused with their current situation.

You dropped your head as you repeat your words in your head, swallowing back the regret and embarrassment that painted your cheeks a pink hue.

Makoto freezes. "What?"

You shake your head and almost immediately grab Makoto's shoulder, gripping them like there's no tomorrow. "Don't worry," you give him a wink and thumbs up as you loosen your grip on his shoulder, "I'll make a sure get home safely!"

Makoto looked up at you, eyes filled with confusion. "Uhhhhh...."

You didn't wait for Makoto to say anything before moving behind him in an attempt to push him onto his feet and off of the stairs. "Don't worry Makoto I'll make sure he doesn't die~"

A slightly confused Makoto sighs, heaving himself up on his feet to leave. "I guess I'll see you-"

You're gone in split seconds, turning on your heels the moment Makoto makes the motion to stand up, leaving Makoto by himself even more confused than he already was. 

* * *

You rush up the stairs and immediately look around the pool, eyes darting to every corner of the pool in search of the water obsessed teen. 

"_Where is he?"_ You whispered under your breath. 

"What are you doing here?" You almost jump out of your skin as Haru speaks behind you, close to your ear, letting out a high-pitched shriek. You almost immediately turn on your heel, whipping your head to face Haru with a shocked expression. 

You let out a relieved sigh, gripping your shirt over your heart. "It's just you Haru."

"Where Makoto?" he asked, glancing to the side as if trying to find him behind you. 

Your obviously forced perky voice answered his question. "I sent him home."

The blue-eyed teen tilted his head at the answer.

"Why?"

"It's so we can talk of course!" you groaned internally. 

"Why?" Haru asked once again. 

You took on more nervous posture, rubbing the back of your head as you felt your awkward smile start to fall from Haru's questions. 

_'You're making this very difficult Haru.'_

Looping your arm around Haru's you pulled him forward, ignoring the feeling of Haru stiffening in response. You looked up and gave him a smile, "C'mon Haru it's getting late, we should get going~"

* * *

The sound of your feet hitting the pavement accompanied by the waves crashing onto the shore filled your ears as you walked by the beach. 

As soon as you stepped passed the gates of the school you attempted to talk to Haru asking him multiple questions only for him to quickly give you either answers that slowed down the momentum of the conversation or one-word answers that made asking him more questions that made you feel even more awkward around him than you were already feeling.

You let out a sigh and turned your head up to see Haru walking ahead of you by a few feet, taking a deep breath you sped up to walk side by side him. 

You looked at everywhere but him. "So," you turned your gaze to Haru for a split second before whipping your head to the side to look at the ocean, "Do you have any idea what you're going to do tomorrow?"

"What do you mean?"

You glanced over to Haru before turning your gaze to the pavement. "You know what I mean..." you said sounding rather skeptical in regards to his question about your question. 

The two of you walk in silence, the sound of waves crashing onto the sand sounding louder than ever. 

You hear Haru let out a soft sigh barely audible over the crashing waves and harsh wind that filled your ears. A heartbeat of silence goes by before Haru finally speaks up. 

"What if you beat him tomorr-"

Haru interrupts you. "Are you swimming again?"

You stopped walking and looked up at Haru with wide eyes as he walked by you, not noticing your absence by his side. 

You blinked your eyes and looked around and turning your head towards the direction where Haru was walking, running up to him after realizing his the brand new distance created between the two of you. 

"You quit swimming after that argument we had in middle school, right?"

You hesitated to respond to his question, your mind going back to your middle school days for a few seconds before responding. "I'm not really that interested in swimming anymore." 

Haru stiffens at your words. 

While not intentional your words reminded him of one of the reasons he stopped swimming in the first place. His sped up his pace, easily passing you by. 

"-aru!"

He stopped almost immediately as your voice reached his ears. He turned his head to look over his shoulder to see you approaching, closing the distance between the two fo you. 

"Are you okay?" you looked up at Haru upon reaching him, eyes filled with concern. 

"I'm fine."

He turned his gaze towards the ocean, the ambiance of the ocean and air almost inaudible.

You looked up at his profile, features softening in concern. 

Your lips form words before you can process what you're saying. 

"I just hope the two of you have fun tomorrow."

_"I hope so too..."_

* * *

Red digital numbers blinked under the dim light. 

** _2 : 07 a.m._ **

You leaned back into your chair, dropping your pencil causing it to make a small thud onto the wooden desk. You stretched your arms above you and looked up at the dark ceiling dimly lit by the small desk lamp. 

Letting out a yawn you ran your fingers through your hair, messing it up as you rubbed your eyes under your glasses. 

You let your head loll back as you take off your glasses, gently placing them on the table to the side. 

You're about to stand from your desk when you hear a soft, muffled ding coming from a small pile of books. Brushing the books to the side you found your phone, batter almost completely gone with the most recent notification being a message. 

** _'rin'_ **

_'can we meet up?'_

* * *

After a few minutes of walking in the cold, you turned the corner of a nearby building and spotted RIn sitting on one of the swing seats that occupied the old playground near the elementary school. 

You beam, looking relieved and head over almost immediately. You see him softly kick up at the ground, particles of sand blowing back onto his feet as he looked up at the night sky. 

You sat down in the empty swing seat next to Rin. 

_'This is awkward.'_

"How are Makoto and the others?" He asked the question quietly.

Silence. You hesitate to answer him.

Ever since his encounter with Haru and the others at the old swim club building he's felt a bit awkward just thinking about them. He thought about seeing them every now and then but every time he thought about it he thought back to how he was towards Makoto and Nagisa. 

He just struggled to interact with anyone he knew before he went to Australia. 

You don't respond for a few long seconds, mulling over what to say in your head. "Y'know you can visit anytime you want, you guys may not be teammates anymore but that doesn't mean you're not friends anymore."

His breath paused. 

It wasn't the answer he was expecting, even though he wasn't sure what exactly what type of answer he was expecting in the first place.

His knuckles turned white as he tightened his grip on the swing's chains, eyes narrowing at the ground. 

He softly sighed, murmuring under his breath. 

"Rin..." you said softly, your voice just loud enough for Rin to hear. 

You watched as he walked away, his figure shrinking in size as he got farther and farther and away. After Rin left, the sky appeared darker than you thought it was and the silence, deafening.

A soft burst of self-deprecatory laughter fell from your lips as you hit the back of your head. "I messed up again, didn't I?"

* * *

"It must be quite the view for you Kou-chan~" You send Kou a playful wink as you lean against the railing to look down at the swimmers below near the pool.

"Of course! You have to see muscles in the flesh to truly appreciate them!" Kou gushed at the toned swimmers. She was practically shaking as a light blushed painted her cheeks. 

You let out a carefree laugh at Kou mere excitement at the sight of muscles.

The two of you talked for a few more minutes- though it could be more accurately described as a one-sided conversation lead by Kou about muscles. 

You never thought hearing someone gush about muscles could be so... interesting to say the least. 

You took out your phone to check the time. 

**10 : 37 a.m.**

"When is Haru's race starting?"

Kou looked up for a second as she racked her brain for an answer. "It should be starting in 15 minutes if I remember."

You stood up, grabbing your wallet out of your bag. "I'm going to get a drink. Do you want anything?"

"Ooi Ocha please!" You gave her a small nod before leaving to get a drink. 

As you quietly hummed to yourself you forgot about your surroundings causing you to not notice anyone nearby. You bumped into someone that gave you a familiar feeling. Pushing the feeling away you looked up at them with a smile. 

"I'm sorry about that I should watch where I'm goin-" Pausing, you tense, your muscles freezing up. 

Your eyes widen in surprise. 

It was unmistakable, those dull teal eyes were absolutely unmistakeable. 

**"S-Sou... Sousuke?"**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a.n.
> 
> my boy sousuke is finally here 
> 
> my fav is finally showing up and i couldn't be happier
> 
> lol i made this way longer than i meant for it to be, i meant for it to end after reader's conversation with kenji and akihito but i made it like 12 pages 
> 
> btw is anybody interested in a q and a for this story( i mean i know no one is going to answer but i still want to ask)?
> 
> anyways thanks for reading and please comment(like please comment i don't want to sound rude or anything but silent readers can make me lose my motivation since i don't know if people like what i'm writing or not)


	24. CHAPTER TWENTY THREE | GOOD THINGS AND BAD THINGS

_You let out a sigh as you lazily spun in your chair, tapping your fingers on everything and anything in front of you, ignoring the noisy ambiance that filled the restaurant. _

_"Ughh..." _

_An over-exaggerated groan was muffled as you buried your hands face in your hands, tuning out your surroundings causing you to fail to notice approaching footsteps. _

_You felt your eyes grow heavy as you dropped one of your hands onto the counter, leaving your cheek to lean against your left hand. _

_You felt calm at the silence- that is until you were interrupted by an unfamiliar baritone voice waking you from your attempt at trying to sleep._

_"Excuse me?"_

_You internally groaned and glared at your hands before standing up from your chair, leaning against the counter as you slowly turned your gaze up to the person standing in front of you. _

_"What can I help you with-"_

_Your words slowly trailed off as you finally got a good look at the person in front of you._

_"...sir..."_

_You took in the rest of his features as you felt yourself get lost in his dull teal eyes._

_Seconds by slowly as you stared at him not thinking about how you looked to him as you just stared at him with wide eyes._

_He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow as he raised his hand to his mouth, letting out an awkward cough in an attempt to get snap you out of your sudden trance. _

_You blinked. _

_A few more seconds passed as you blinked some more as you began to think about what you just did. _

_You blinked again and again. _

_Your feel your cheeks begin to warm up, a faint blush began to dust your cheeks as you begin to realize what you've been doing the past fifteen seconds._

_"Is there something wrong?"_

_Your blush intensifies. _

_"I- Um..."_

_You took a deep breath. _

_"I'm so sorry!" you apologized as you lower your head in a bow. _

_You rapidly bow, bowing around twenty times in only five seconds, your embarrassment taking you over as you repeat apologies over and over again. _

_"It's fine, reall-"_

_"I'm so sorry!" you say interrupting him as you give one last bow before looking up to see him nervously looking at with both of his hands up. _

** _"I'm so sorr-"_ **

** _"I'm sorr-"_ **

_Your blush somehow finds a way to intensify even more as you listen to the awkward back and forth between the two of you, the both of you stammering and stumbling over your words as he tries to give you his order. _

_An uncomfortable silence falls over you once he finishes before he awkwardly walks away leaving both of you with cheeks burning a bright red. _

* * *

You stared down at your hands and let out a soft sigh as you come back to the present, still not quite sure what to say to the person sitting next to you.

The awkward silence seemed to cause the time to pass by slowly. You looked down at your phone and groaned at the time- only two minutes had passed since sitting down with a certain someone that you didn't expect to see anytime soon.

You took a deep breath and glanced over to look at him only to be met by his teal eyes staring back at you. Both of you almost immediately turned away as a pink hue painted your cheeks. 

...

The silence returned even more awkward than ever before. 

You glanced back at Sousuke before quickly turning back to look down at your hands. "Soooo...." 

You glanced back at him and your eye twitched. 

He had absolutely no reaction. 

"Ahem."

Nothing. 

You narrowed your eyes at him, glaring daggers into him as he continued to ignore you, it was as if he was purposefully tuning you out.

An overexaggerated sigh left your lips as you leaned your head against your hand, turning your head up to look at the ceiling as you began to think about things to say. 

"How have you been?"

A deep voice cut the silence catching you off guard. You hadn't expected him to speak up, in all the time you've known him you've never known him as the type to start a conversation. 

You blink for a few seconds as you take in his simple question. 

The question was extremely simple, it could be answered with one word yet hearing that questioned made you think about everything that has happened since school started. 

You're sure it was just a simple ice breaker question but that didn't stop you from thinking about everything that has happened since seeing Rin again. 

Your head races with answers that would take you some time to properly explain but you go with the simplest answer that pops into your mind. 

"I'm fine..." 

You turn your head and glance back at him, his eyes downcast. You let out a sigh and turned your head down, your eyes returning back to your hands. 

"I'm better than I was the last time we saw each other at the very least if that's what you're wondering."

Sousuke flinches at the unintentional reminder. 

You look back at him. A sigh escapes your lips. 

"So how have you been?"

"Fine."

"Okay, what are you doing in Iwatobi?"

He hesitated. 

"I just thought it would be a good change of pace."

You scoffed under your breath. 

He still was terrible at contributing to a conversation, giving blunt answers that make continuing the conversation more and more awkward as it continues on. 

"Is there a reason you wanted to talk or-"

"I'm sorry."

Your eyes widen in surprise at the words that Sousuke used to cut you off. 

You blink, still lost for words as to what to say. 

You open your mouth to say something but no words come out, the words are on the tip of your tongue but they can't seem to be formed. 

"W-What did you say?" 

He lets out a shaky sigh.

"I-"

You hear the hesitance in his voice. 

He lets out a sigh and turns his head up to look at you, staring back at you into your [e/c] eyes. The intensity in his eyes makes you freeze in place.

A soft and quiet hitched breath comes from your lips. 

"I'm sorry."

He doesn't give you a chance to speak before he continues. 

"I know we didn't on the best terms and you might not want to see me but I just wanted to apologize for the way I acted-"

"Have you always been so serious and depressing?"

Sousuke blinked as he began to process the words that you used to interrupt him a mid apology. 

He gives you a doubtful look.

"Like seriously the vibe your giving off is so depressing it's making me sad."

Sousuke narrowed his eyes and gave you an expression drier than the Atacama Desert. "I'm trying to apologize and that's all you have to say?"

You just tilt your head in a response to him. "I get that but I didn't expect you to be so gloomy about it."

He let out a long sigh and turned away. 

You attempted to hold it in but you couldn't help it any longer. You burst into laughter just a few seconds after Sousuke turned away.

He turned to look at you and your failed attempt to stifle your laughter. He tried to ignore it but he couldn't help himself as a small smile snaked its way to his lips. 

A small, relaxed smile dresses your lips, your face resting on one palm. "You know you're a lot more handsome smiling rather than when you're frowning."

Silence fills the space between the two of you but instead of the awkward silence that made you feel trapped it was a calm silence that made you more relaxed than you've felt in a while. 

You let out a soft sigh.

"I hope you know I don't hate you or anything like that, I know you're a good guy you're just... let's just say difficult at times."

"Soo..." 

"Me saying I think you're still a good guy doesn't mean I'm going to date you again anytime soon."

"I wasn't going to suggest anything like that!"

You scoff and give him a teasing look. "I know that's what you want to think but I like to think I know you well enough to know that's not what you think."

He turns away with a pout leaving you to give him a teasing smile at the burning red that painted the tips of his ears. 

Although hesitant, Sousuke glanced back at you, a small, barely noticeable smile on his lips. "It was nice to see you again." he said softly under his breath just loud enough for you to hear.

A looked away with a small and warm smile as you felt your cheeks heat up, a pink hue painting your cheeks. 

You stood and pulled your phone out of your pocket. Your eyes widened and you let out a shocked yelp as you looked down at the time. 

Haru's race had started already. 

You gave Sousuke a nervous smile as he stood up, wondering what was wrong. 

"Sorry," you said as you pointed at the phone, "Har-" you stopped before Haru's name could leave your lips, Sousuke's particular feelings for the freestyle swimmer coming to your mind. 

"M-My friend's race started. Sorry to cut this short."

Sousuke looked down and rubbed the back of his head. "It's okay, I guess you're here for a reason."

"Um..."

"Soo..." 

Both of you avoided eye contact as you attempted to think of a way to say goodbye. 

What exactly were you supposed to say? 

You just saw your ex-boyfriend who you broke up with only a few months ago and had an awkward but nice conversation with regarding said break up. You had no idea what you were supposed to say. 

Sousuke put his hat back on, pulling it back down and buried his hands in his pockets something you quickly followed suit in doing. 

As you both looked around the room your eyes accidentally met with his before you both quickly turned away. A burning sensation appeared on your cheeks, the appearance of blush was more noticeable on you compared to Sousuke but was there nonetheless. 

You both awkwardly took a step forward and made numerous awkward movements. 

A few awkward movements to hug until Sousuke ultimately decided to stick out his hand, motioning for you to shake it which you did after a few awkward seconds. 

After that, the two of you stared at each other for a few seconds that felt like an eternity not knowing what to say or do. 

...

You let out a nervous laugh while Sousuke awkward coughed into his fist. 

Taking a deep breath you spoke up as calmly as you could which isn't really saying much considering how awkward the air around you felt. 

"Let's turn around and leave on the count of three, okay?"

"O- I, Okay," Sousuke gave a curt nod. 

"One. Two. Three!" 

You and Sousuke immediately turned away from each other, the both of you cringing with every step as the awkward last moments replayed in your head.

* * *

"I-, I'm b-back," you said in between breath, panting heavily and resting your hand on your knees as you stopped in front of Miss Amakata. 

You looked up at all five of them and noticed the downcast expressions of their faces and the gloomy feeling that filled the air around them. 

"Did- Did something happen?" you asked before turning to look down at the pool. 

The race was over with new swimmers getting ready for their race and most importantly neither Rin or Haru was in sight. 

You sighed deeply before turning back at the others. "Did Rin lose?"

They all shook their heads. 

"H-Haru lost..." you said shocked beyond belief. 

You weren't sure how to feel.

You couldn't help but feel glad Rin but there something about the way they were acting that made you feel that despite the fact that Rin won and Haru lost they both had lost. 

You let out a heavy sigh and walked up the stairs and took a seat on the bleachers, sitting directly behind Kou. You felt all of your stress come back to you as you buried your face in your hands, a groan leaving your lips. 

"Something wrong?"

Rei looked down at his watched and over his shoulder as if searching for someone. "I thought sure Haru would have joined us by now."

Of course. 

"He's probably still in the shower," Nagisa said trying to reassure his teammate.

You let out a sigh as you began to tune voices and background noises out. You weren't at all interested in getting involved in what was going on, you would help Haru whenever he needed help but it was too much for you at the moment and you didn't want to think about the stress it would cause you to run into either Haru or Rin. 

* * *

"I'm so sorry! I secretly signed you up for the medley relay!" Kou apologized as she bowed slightly to the Iwatobi members. 

You arched a brow and awkwardly smiled at the exact event Kou signed the boys for. You internally groaned. Of course, the only open event for them to be able to participate would be the medley relay. You shouldn't have expected any less. 

The idea of a medley relay made you nervous but seeing how fired up Rei was made the butterflies in your stomach disappear as a small smile appeared on your face. 

You smiled up at Makoto. "Looks like the only thing you have to do is convince Haru to swim in the relay with you."

He let out a sigh and mussed up his hair as he brushed his fingers through it, "You make it sound so simple."

"Well, you shouldn't waste time then, it's tomorrow after all."

* * *

Haru wasn't there. 

Of course, he wasn't, right when you need him he's gone. 

All the lights were off and his front door was locked. 

Despite the initial obstacle, they showed no signs of giving up anytime soon. 

"We'll get in through the back!"

"Wait, are we allowed to?!"

"Don't worry about it Rei!"

You all frantically searched throughout his home for him, looking in every room. 

Of course, none of you found him. 

After no results of Haru, you all met back up in the living room where you continued to pace back and forth thinking of places where he could be. 

You looked at the clock, its silent ticking being the only thing keeping you awake. 

The silence was broken by Kou. "He still isn't back yet."

"Where could he be at this hour?"

"What if..." Rei was quick to jump to conclusions that you would rather not want to consider as a possibility or even think about. 

Even so, you couldn't help but think about what was going on with Haru, you knew he couldn't possibly be alright with how his race with Rin ended. 

"Try not to worry," you turned your head and saw Makoto looking over his shoulder, "Haru maybe be quiet but he's no pushover."

"Wait, his cellphone! We should call him!"

"Since when does Haru have a cellphone?"

"And why are you just now mentioning it?"

"It's not like Haru's going to answer," you said looking at Nagisa with tired eyes. 

"Well, we should at least try."

"Of course, it's your decision, I'm just saying."

...

"It went to voicemail!"

"As expected," you added as you played around with a nearby shelf. 

You gave the three underclassmen an awkward smile as you listened to the 'interesting' message they left for Haru. 

"It's getting late, we should be getting home." 

You glanced over to Makoto and saw him looking over his shoulder. 

"I don't think Haru will swim tomorrow, we'll forfeit."

You opened your mouth to say something but closed it as you realized there was nothing you could say to make anyone feel better. 

* * *

A deep sigh escaped your lips as you took a seat down in front of the front door, your shoulder and head leaning against the wall as you attempted to stay up. 

You heard soft footsteps approaching and you turned looked over your shoulder with tired eyes and saw Makoto looking down at you with an expression that made you think he was surprised to still see you here. 

"Shouldn't you be getting home?"

You let out another sigh and looked back down at your hands and feet. "Well, it's not like there's anything waiting for me there..."

You hesitated for a brief second. 

"Plus, I've been not what you would call a good friend for three years, waiting to see if he's okay is the least I can do..." you finished trailing off near the end. 

You glanced over at Makoto who decided to sit down next to you. 

"But what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Shouldn't you be getting home? I'm sure your parents are worried about you staying out so late..."

He turned his gaze down to his hands. "They are but I told them I'm waiting for Haru to come home to see if he's okay."

"Hey, Mako," you glanced at him before quickly looking away. "Do you," you took a deep breath and turned to look at him with a nostalgic smile.

"Do you remember when we first joined the swim club back in elementary?"

He returned your smile with his own warm smile, this time his smile reached his eyes. 

"Yeah, I remember how much Haru complained about how you wouldn't stop bothering him to join." 

He laughed and you couldn't help but smile as your shoulders relaxed at the sound of his voice. 

"It's funny how some things about Haru never change," you say with a laugh. "Just like when we were kids he's still obsessed with water and he still avoids people like the plague."

"Haru always acted like he didn't care but you could tell how me he loved going to the swim club every day," you hear the brunette chuckle softly. 

You couldn't help it but the more Makoto talked the heavier your eyelids felt. The brunette unknowingly lulled you to sleep with his voice as he continued to fondly reminisce on the past. 

In your sleepy state, you said something that you're not sure you would say if you were fully awake. 

"I'm really happy you're here Makoto..."

You leaned against Makoto, your head falling on his shoulder causing him to freeze up not that you noticed in your tired state. 

You breathed softly and last words you said were barely louder than a whisper but Makoto could hear them as clear as day. 

"I'm not sure if I've ever told you this before but... I really like you too..."

And with that, you fell asleep leaving Makoto flustered and slightly frustrated. 

You left him awake with feelings that he didn't know what to make of. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a.n.
> 
> my boy sousuke yamazaki is finally in the picture and best boy next door material, makoto tachibana gets some moments
> 
> i'm gonna cry 
> 
> anyways sorry for taking forever to update, i've just been sick (i'm still kinda sick but i wanted to get something out already because this is one of my main stories) 
> 
> i am a terrible writer, i hope i didn't make some of the interactions between reader and sousuke too preachy but reader (at least my reader) doesn't hate sousuke and she's too stressed out to get too mad at sousuke at the moment
> 
> reader and sousuke's problems aren't entirely gone, they still have a few issues and kinks (not that kink) that they have to work out, after all they broke up for a reason but they're just overall chill with each other
> 
> i hope i did my boys sousuke and makoto justice in this chapter with my trash writing.
> 
> btw next chapter is going to have some nice rin moments so get ready for that lol
> 
> also i'm doing a q & a for this so please ask questions or don't because i'll probably spam questions with my alt account lol, i'm kidding... or am i...
> 
> thanks for reading and comment if you want to : )


	25. TWENTY FOUR | FESTIVAL ACTIVITIES

An exaggerated annoyed groan left your lips but it could only be barely heard by you as you aggressively hurled the volleyball in your hands at the stone wall in front of you.

A loud _thwack _was made as the ball came in contact with your palms causing you to hiss at the sting on your palms from the rough contact. 

Your palms were painted a bright red and you could feel your palms sting and burn. You shook your head and ignored the burning sensation in your hands, quickly turning your head back up at the wall. 

You narrowed your eyes at the wall and hurled the ball in your hands with more force than ever before causing you to yet out a sound of surprise before you quickly ducked, your hands on your head as you heard a surprised yelp behind you along with the sound of someone falling to the grass. 

You let out an annoyed groan before standing up straight. You looked over your shoulder at the direction of the ball before turning back at the wall and burying your face in your palms. 

“Um… [Y/N]...” 

You turned on your heel, unintentionally glaring daggers at the brunette teen who looked like he was about to cry. 

“What?” you said, spitting out the word as quickly as possible. 

Kenji slowly got up from the grass, groaning at the green that stained his blazer before standing up straight and taking a deep breath. He ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it back before he picked up the worn-down volleyball. 

“Are you doing okay?” he asked as he tossed the ball from hand to hand, his eyes focusing on the brown blur that was the volleyball. 

“Of course I’m doing okay!” you snapped at him, tearing the ball out of his hands and turning back around to the wall. 

Kenji raised an eyebrow. “You sure because you’re throwing that ball like you’re trying to break out of a prison cell.” 

A beat of silence passes by. 

“I mean, Why would I be frustrated by how annoying and angsty Rin and Haru have been? It’s their stupid dramatic **business!**” you finish your sentence saying your last four words with a noticeable pause every time you throw the ball back at the wall. 

“You know I don’t recall ever mentioning Rin and Haru.”

_Crap. _

“AAAAHHH!”

You threw the volleyball with so much pressure that you were doubting whether or not it was filled with air or stones. 

You let out a high pitched yelp as you felt the contact that caused a loud _smack!_ to be heard by both you and Kenji, the both of you wincing at the sound. 

“Um…”

Kenji stared at you with a look that could be described as half fear and half concern. 

Taking a deep breath the brunette sat up straight up, pushing his knees away from his chest until they were on the grass. 

“[Y/N], don’t take this the wrong way or anything like that but you see a lot more off than you usually are.” he tilted his head in an attempt to read the expression on your face, though considering how much he was shaking it is safe to say he didn’t see much if anything. 

You stiffened your shoulders rough before he could get his full sentence out.

Needless to say, he shut up immediately. He turned his head up at the sky and let out a nervous whistle as he attempted to make small talk and change the subject in the most awkward way possible. 

“So, the weather is looking pretty good isn’t it,” he nervously laughed, the discomfort in his voice was obvious, “The ocean looked nice when I passed by it on my way to school- ah!”

He looked at you with a shaky smile. The daggers you were glaring in front of you deflected off the stone wall onto him. 

He internally screamed as he wondered what made him think it was a good idea to bring up the ocean when it was so obvious that you were annoyed with the very person that was basically one with water. 

To his relief, you turned your attention back to torturing the poor volleyball by hurling it at the wall while he was internally screaming. 

_“Just what happened at the prefectural tournament?”_ he whispered to himself. 

Just as he turned his head up he saw a familiar head turn around the corner. 

“Akihito, what are you doing here?” he asked, turning his attention away from you. 

“Well, one of the shelves in the library fell over so I decided to see if anything was happening outside.”

Kenji’s eye twitched at his response and he looked at you from the corner of his eye, a nervous grin on his face at the sight of you aggressively hurling the ball in your hands to the poor stone wall. 

“By the way what’s going on here? I heard some yelling so I decided to check out what’s going on…” He drew out his sentence as he slowly turned his head to see what the brunette was staring at with wary eyes, a worried yet understanding expression forming on his face. 

“Oh,” he said in realization, “That makes a lot of sense.”

The black-haired teen walked up to you with a nervous expression dressing his face. He raised his hand to ask a question, “[Y/N]? Is everything alright?”

“Of course I’m fine,” you responded with a grunt. “I’m perfectly fin-”

You weren’t able to finish speaking when you accidentally threw the ball a little harder and faster than you intended to, causing it to strike you right square in the face. 

You heard a loud gasp and yelp behind you as you felt something warm drip down your face, you turned on your heels with a shocked expression on your face. 

“Blood!”

“Wait… What?!”

You began to unconsciously run in place as your eyes widened as much as humanly possible. “WHAT DO I DO?! WHAT DO I DO?!”

Kenji looked around panicky, “I DON’T KNOW? STOP RUNNING IN PLACE AND WIPE IT AWAY!”

You felt your cheeks heat up as you continued to panic, “I CAN’T DO THAT YOU KNOW I GET FAINT AT THE SIGHT OF BLOOD!”

“WAIT I’VE GOT IT!” Akihito shouted out as he leaped forward, throwing his blazer over your face as he fell backward onto the grass. 

A few beats of silence passed by slowly and all three of you were as still as possible as if time had stopped. 

“Crap, I think she’s dead!” the brunette exclaimed despite the fact that all you did was hit yourself in the face with a volleyball. 

Akihito gripped his friend’s shoulders and shook him, “Get a hold of yourself man all she has is a nosebleed!” 

“If that’s all why did you freak out and throw your blazer at her face?”

…

“Stop it with the questions! [Y/N] could be dead right now and you’re asking questions?!”

“Will you quit talking like I’m dead!”

* * *

“So is there a reason as to why you were trying to throw a hole into the library?”

You looked up from your lap, dropping the blazer from your face to your lap. “Hm?”

Akihito shrugged as he stuck his hands in his pockets and slid down the wall, plopping down onto the concrete sidewalk. “I mean there has to be a reason you were trying to break the wall with a volleyball, right?”

You let out a sigh. 

“I was pretending that the wall was Haru and Rin and that the ball was me forcing them to make up with each other,” you said with a huff. 

You turned away as you pouted and puffed up your cheeks. You glared at the grass for a few seconds before letting out a sigh and relaxing your shoulders. 

Kenji rolled his eyes. 

“So you’re worried about how Rin and Haru are acting... Isn’t that surprising?” Kenji said, his words were dripping with sarcasm.

You glared at him and he feigned innocence, putting his hands in his air. 

“You shouldn’t worry about it too much [Y/N],” Akihito said with a smile as he stood up, dusting his pants off. 

“Don’t worry about it, if the universe wants them to make up then they’ll make up and everything will go back to normal- well at least as normal as things can be.”

A beat of complete silence came and went.

“Akihito.”

Pressing your hands together you made your palms touch and raised them in preparation to give Akihito the most frustrated boi you could muster. 

“I love you and all that but I don’t think you’re hipster advice is all that helpful to the situation I’m dealing with at the moment.”

“I should get going.”

You watch in shock as he ignores you completely and turns on his heels and walks back to the library, not even bothering to look at you. 

“Don’t walk away like you don’t hear me!” you yell as you glare daggers into his back, your grip on his blazer tightening by the second. He quickly disappears from sight and most importantly, your glare. 

With a huff you plop back down on the bench and pout, puffing up your cheeks as you turn your head to look to the side. “Well, that wasn’t all that helpful.”

Kenji sighs and rubs his forehead in exhaustion before plopping down next to you. “Look, I know you’re worried and you’re the type of person to fix everyone’s problems but maybe you should just accept the fact that you can’t do much in this situation.”

You turn your head to him almost immediately and give him a glare that can only be as intimidating as it can be when the person glaring has their cheeks puffed up. 

“I don’t want to fix everything, I just want to make sure everything is…'' you draw out your sentence as you take in your words, realization set in. Thinking about your words you sink back down into your seat folding your hands into your lap. 

“Okay, I see what you mean.”

Burying your face in your palms you let out a long and frustrated groan. “Maybe I should take Akihito’s vague hipster advice,” you couldn’t help but grimace at the words coming out of your mouth, “Things would definitely be a lot less stressful. 

You let out a high pitched yelp in response to Kenji suddenly slapping your back out of nowhere. Your eyes twitched as you focused on the stinging sensation on your back and tuned out the sound of his laughter. 

“That’s the spirit! Now let’s go to the front, one of my spies told me that the swim team’s there.” 

You raised an eyebrow. “Your spy? Who would that be exactly?”

Kenji didn’t respond immediately, all he did was give you a smile. 

“I could tell you but…” he put his hand on his chin in a thoughtful manner. 

You just stared at him and gestured at him to continue as he waited for long enough to make his reveal sound much more interesting than it actually was. 

“It’s a secret.” he leaned down to reach your height and gave you a wink.

You narrowed your [E/C] eyes and raised an eyebrow at the taller teen as you looked him up and down with judging eyes.

“It’s one of the underclassmen in the club, isn’t it?”

…

He didn’t reply. 

You knew him all too well so you decided to question him any further. His silence was extremely telling, your response was followed by a speechless silence mostly contributed by Kenji who was standing as still as a statue. 

“Of course,” you sighed. You dropped your shoulders and closed your eyes as you took a deep breath, taking in the welcomed silence- but unfortunately, that silence and calmness disappeared almost immediately once Kenji’s hand grabbed yours, pulling you up onto your feet. 

“Don’t worry about that, let’s just go already.”

You looked at him with judging eyes before letting out a sigh and finally relented, allowing him to pull you along with him. You tried your best to not smile back at him. Well, not that hard considering that the corner of your mouth eventually began to curve up into a small smile. 

* * *

Your eye twitched as you listened to the not so subtle whispers and pointed fingers by students as you looked at the new subject of school gossip from a distance. 

At first, when you spotted the colourful haired club you tried your best to appear subtle but after a few seconds of trying to hype yourself up to approach the group you gave up on trying to appear subtle. 

Clenching your fists you turned on your heels and narrowed your eyes, giving the gossiping the sharpest glare you could muster in your embarrassed state. They all quickly scurried away the moment they locked eyes with you, muttering apologies under their breath. 

Kenji raised an eyebrow and looked at you up and down with judging eyes. He let out a sigh and ran his hand through his hair, mussing it up in the process. 

You looked like something that he was sure you would glare at him for if he said what he thought out loud. 

In the most simple terms possible you looked like a stalker. 

That’s all he could say about what you looked like, you looked like a creepy stalker staring at the group from a distance. 

Without any warning, Kenji raised his foot to reach your back and, in his words, gently kicked you out of the shade and into the sun towards the target of your weird staring. 

You let out a high pitch sound of surprise at the sudden push. Rubbing your back you looked over your shoulder and sent a glare at the brunette who just turned away with a bored expression on his face as he yawned trying his best to pretend you weren’t glaring at him. 

“What was that for?!”

You growled as you aggressively slipped off your blazer, hissing at the sight of dirt on the back before violently dusting it off as best as you could. 

An annoyed groan slipped from your lips as you slipped it back on as quickly as possible and turned around to glare up at the taller teen. 

Before you knew it you were spun around to face the swim team and before you could protest Kenji pulled you towards them with a tight grip on the collar of your shirt to make sure you couldn’t escape from the much-needed interaction. 

You were only a foot away from them when he let go of your collar and pushed you towards the group. 

A wide smile spread across his face as he greeted them, his mood changing from wanting to get into a fight with you to acting like he couldn't be happier to see the swim club.

You gave him a judgemental stare at the sudden change of his personality. 

“Hey, guys! Congrats on making it to regionals!”

You watched as the swim club (beside Haru of course) gave their thanks in their own ways. You let out a sigh as you watched them all interact with each other. 

“Hmn?” Nagisa tilted his head to the side, finally noticing you. “[Y/N]-chan? I didn’t notice you there!” 

Nagisa was practically with every step as he approached you, wrapping his arms around you almost immediately. 

You stiffened up for a few seconds before relaxing into the hug, giving him a small smile once he pulled away. 

You began to clam up as you noticed all the eyes on you. “I- Uh, Um… I just wanted to tell you guys congratulations on making it to regionals…” 

You rubbed the back of your head as you searched your head on things to say to try to make the awkward silence cease. 

Nope. Nothing came to mind. 

Fortunately, Kenji noticed your awkward body language and quickly saved you from the silence. He put one arm on your shoulder as he pulled you closer, “[Y/N] wanted to say congratulations on making it to regionals, it’s just that she’s really awkward and she can’t do things like that without help.”

You narrowed your eyes at him no longer thankful for his interruption. 

“By the way, how did the volleyball club do in preliminaries?” Makoto asked, breaking you out of your thoughts. 

The moment those words left Makoto’s left you and Kenji froze on the spot unsure as to what to say in response to his question. 

“Is something wrong?” Kou frowned, your behavior worrying her. 

In perfect unison, you spoke at the same time as Kenji, “Pfft Of course not-” 

You stop speaking and whip your head to the side to glare at Kenji who was glaring back at you. 

Of course, he had to speak at the same time as you. 

As far as you could tell your attempt to not seem awkward was not going so well. It’s not like you had that high of expectations for how you were going to act. 

You and Kenji looked at each other as you talked to each other without saying any words. 

_‘What do I say?!’_

You shrugged. 

_‘I don’t know! How should I know?!”_

You sighed. 

_‘Just let me deal with it.’_

“Don’t worry about it, nothing’s wrong!” you said, a faint smile on your lips. “Everybody had fun and did well, it’s just that…”

You turned your gaze up at the sky and tapped your sides as you racked your brain for something to say. Thinking back to your conversation with Akihito an idea came to mind. 

“The universe just didn’t think it was the right time for us to-”

You felt a hand on your shoulder and looked up to see Kenji opening his mouth to speak. “What she means by that is that we were completely and absolutely crushed at prelims.” 

You looked at Kenji with wide eyes at the words he said as he cut in.

Reaching up you gripped his shoulder tightly and pulled him down to whisper in his ear, “Did you have to phrase it like that?”

The next few minutes consisted of all of you talking about the results of the relay and plans for regionals until almost everyone eventually left, leaving you and Kenji alone with Makoto. 

“I guess I should get going, I’ll see you guys later.” Makoto waved goodbye before walking off. 

He was only able to walk a few feet away when you ran up to him, grabbing onto his sleeve in a successful attempt to stop him. 

“Makoto, do you mind if we talk for a minute?”

Makoto gave you a hesitant nod. 

You let out a soft, relieved sigh. You were more than relieved by him agreeing to talk, not that it showed up on your face. 

“I’ll talk to you later,” you waved goodbye to Kenji as you turned to look back at him. 

Kenji let out a laugh. 

“Alright, just don’t have too much fun if you know what I mean,” Kenji said, giving you wink along with finger guns. 

You felt your face flush a bright red due to his words. You gave him a glare as you mouthed to him _‘I swear when I get back I’ll-’_

“What does-” Makoto interrupted your thoughts as he began to question the shorter teen’s words but not before he was interrupted by you grabbing hold of his arm, looping your arm around his. 

You pulled him along as quickly as you could but not before throwing one final glare back at your friend from over your shoulder. "It's nothing important! Don't worry!"

* * *

"Is there something you wanted to talk about?" Makoto's voice cut in amidst your random conversation starters. 

Looking up your [e/c] eyes met with his green ones and you felt your cheeks begin to heat up, his question reminding you why exactly you wanted to talk to him in the first place.

You thought back to the late shift that you took last night and the conversation you had with your co-worker regarding a weird feeling you were having. 

_You moved your hand in circular motions over the same spot over and over again till everything around you began to fade from your mind- that is until a loud squeak interrupted your thoughts. _

_Looking up you saw your co-worker, Rina Akaza staring at you with her usual grin, her eyes already teasing you before you could say anything. You sighed. _

_"Are you okay?" she looked at you before taking a short spin on the squeaky barstool. _

_You looked at her with suspicion. "Yes... Why do you ask?" you finally replied after much hesitance. _

_"I'm asking because you've been cleaning the same spot for over an hour now, I mean I think you made a scuff mark on the counter already."_

_You yelped a little in surprise as you looked down at the counter, moving the rag to see a barely noticeable scuff mark on the white surface, throwing the dirty rag in your hand behind you in surprise. _

_"So, tell me," she crossed her legs over each other and pressed her palms together, intertwining her fingers as she leaned on the counter, "What's going on?"_

_You sigh heavily._

_Normally, you would argue with her over her butting into your personal life seeing as how she tends to be able to tease you about the smallest things. _

_However, as you thought about it you couldn't help but come clean about her as you realized you needed to talk to someone before your thoughts drove you insane. _

_"I feel like I might've said something to Makoto last night that I wouldn't have ever say to him if I was really awake." you looked away._

_"Maybe you told him you like him?" _

_She waits for a reply, specifically the usual annoyed response that she grew used to but it never comes. Instead, she gets a surprising deep silence. _

_She looks up, blinking in surprise at the expression on your face. _

_You were staring back at her with wide eyes, your mouth slightly ajar. _

_"Is everything alright?" she asked after much hesitance. _

_[E/C] orbs darted to every corner of the room, avoiding the brown orbs staring back at you. You turned your gaze back down to the brunette sitting in front of you to see her looking at you with an eyebrow raised. _

_"Of course I'm fine, why wouldn't I be fine?!" _

_"I dunno, people are a lot more honest when they're tired, right?" she tapped her chin as she turned her gaze up to the ceiling. "Or is that when you're drunk?"_

_You groan._

_"You're not helping at all." You let out a deep sigh, muffled by your hands. _

-[Y/N]-chan are you okay?" 

You whip your head and see Makoto looking at you with a concerned expression on his face, his eyebrows raised slightly and mouth slightly ajar. 

There's silence and more silence once you realize you got lost in your thoughts once again. Embarrassed, you clear your throat, becoming flustered almost immediately.

Pressing the tips of your pointer fingers together you look away, your face burning a bright red by the second as you look at Makoto. "I was just curious, did I, maybe say anything weird that night we stayed up waiting for Haru?"

"O-Of course not, why would you say anything w-weird?"

A heartbeat of silence. 

A few more seconds of silence pass by before you look up to see Makoto looking flushed, his eyes pointed to the side. The faint blush that painted his cheeks made you think that something might've happened between the two of you. 

You both awkwardly laugh in unison as you turn away from each other, your thoughts about what happened between the two of you running through your mind. 

_'I knew this was going to be awkward.'_

* * *

Several pairs of eyes stared at the back of the head slowly getting up from their booth as they tossed their bill on the table before turning on their heel. 

Everyone standing behind the counter immediately looked away, scrambling around each other to make it seem as if they were doing something important rather than just standing around waiting for the last customer in the small restaurant to leave. 

Arching an eyebrow they stared at the awkwardly posed workers for a few seconds, scrutinizing their forms before shrugging and turning away. 

As soon as they turned away everyone behind the counter rushed up to the counter to continue their staring. The air was surprisingly heavy for something so simple to happen. 

And just like they were waiting for they opened the door, the small bell hanging on the top of the bell making a loud '_ding!'. _

Everyone let go of the breath that no one was aware they were holding and let out a sigh of relief with few employees cheering out things such as "Finally!" and "That was terrible, thank goodness it's finally over." which resulted in you sending them a sharp glare shutting them up as quickly as possible. 

You whistle with all of the air you can suck in, clap your hands twice and put your hands around your mouth, yelling afterward, "Everybody! Shut up! Get your stuff! And leave before I kick you all out!"

They look up at each other for a second before scrambling next to each other to make it to the back room as quickly as possible. 

Letting out a sigh you rub the back of your head, mussing your hair up before making your way to the back. You wince slightly as you get closer to the back, excited cheers making its way to ears. 

Just the sound of how excited they were made you tired."[Y/N]-kun, are you going to the festival tonight?" 

"Utada, didn't I tell you to stop pouncing on people?" 

"Yes, but you didn't answer my question," you turned your head and saw the taller female looking at you with a smile, her arm looped around yours. 

"Well, I was planning on just going home and doing some study-"

"Too bad, we're all going together!" she exclaimed. You couldn't understand how it was humanely possible for someone to be so cheerful and positive for so long without ever getting upset or tired. 

You let out a drawn-out sigh. "Fine, I guess I- Wait a second did you say we!" 

You looked away from her and looked to see a small group of your co-workers all huddled together giving you fingers guns and thumbs up. 

You groaned. 

"This is going to be a long night."

* * *

Everyone's eyes twinkled as they looked around the festival, staring at every stall that they passed by, letting out sounds of amazement. You wouldn't be surprised if they were more excited than some of the children at the festival. 

You allow yourself a tiny smile. 

Despite originally being forced to go to the festival (a statement that you will continue to stand by no matter how intense Daisuke and Utada tell you it is) you found yourself feeling actually relaxed for what felt like weeks. 

"-More squid! Wow, I can't believe I forgot how much squid they have here." 

Hearing the familiar voice you turn around to see Nagisa standing around one of the many squid stands with Rei. "Hey, Utada, Daisuke," both turn to face you with Utada looking at you for barely a second before looking around once more, "I'm going to talk to some friends for a minute, I'll be right back, okay?" 

Utada gave you a thumbs up without thinking too much about it while Daisuke gave you a salute before turning away from you, "You got it, boss, talk to you later!"

"Yamada! Look over there, candy apples! Let's get some!" you watch in amusement as she pulls the taller teen behind here towards a nearby stall without waiting for an answer. 

You approach the two with a smile. "You two look cute, don't you?" you say to Nagisa and Rei. 

Both of them turned to look at you, a surprised expression dressing their faces for a second before changing to greet you. Nagisa flashed you a bright smile as he took a few steps towards you to greet you in his usual cheerful way while Rei turned away from you. His cheeks burned a scarlet color as he attempted to speak, only for mumbled words to fall out of his mouth. 

"G-Good evening [Y/N]-senpai," Rei finally managed to get out, even though it was obvious he wanted to say more than that.

"You look cute too [N/N]-chan!" Nagisa grabbed your hands and gave you a smile, "Though I'm sure you would've looked cuter if you wore a yukata tonight." 

You gave out a small chuckle. "Yeah, I've been to busy to buy a new yukata, I wasn't even planning to come here if a few friends from work didn't force me to come."

You hum quietly. "Anyways are you two having fun?" 

"Well-"

"Have you seen how much squid there is, there's squid everywhere! We passed by at least seven stands selling fried squid!" Nagisa's eyes were sparkling as he took in the sights that the festival had to offer, staring at every stall you passed by. He somehow didn't get bored of walking by squid stand after squid stand which made you think if it was possible for him to ever get bored.

You couldn't help but smile at Nagisa who was bouncing with every step that he took. Nagisa's energetic nature could be tiring at times but considered how tired you were when you got to the festival, Nagisa's overly energetic self was exactly what you needed. 

And when saying Nagisa's energetic nature was what you needed you meant it. 

Despite enjoying yourself so far you couldn't help but find yourself drifting off from the conversation held by Rei and Nagisa. Walking by dozens of stands could only be interesting for so long and not even Nagisa's astute observations about them selling squid could save you from looking around. 

You felt actually relaxed without any problems coming to your mind, for once you actually stopped thinking about everything that was going on. For once you thought about only yourself for the first time in what felt like weeks. 

Looking around the festival you spotted several different games and food that were all too familiar to you. Looking around at the stalls squished together closely taking as little space as possible and the overwhelming smell of squid and fish reminded you of a pleasant memory from your childhood. 

You were lost in your thoughts when your eyes brushed over the other maroon haired Matsuoka walking his way through the crowd.

"Hey, is that Ri-"

Without any warning, you felt a hand wrap itself tightly around your wrist. You were almost immediately pulled away from the scene. 

You felt your head spin as you were pulled around. You opened your mouth to stay something but you found yourself unable to say something, looking down you saw a hand lightly covering your mouth.

Turning your head up you saw Nagisa looking at you in the eyes, his big magenta eyes were as wide as saucers. He held a finger to his mouth, telling you to be quiet without saying anything. 

"Shh!" he shushed you as he grabbed Rei's sleeve, pulling him down to the ground where the two of you were crouching. "We can't let Haru know that Rin's here!"

"I get that Nagisa-kun but was there really a need to make it look like you were trying to kidnap [Y/N]-senpai?" Rei looked at Nagisa and to the side at pointing passerby. "There's still people looking!" 

You watched with tired eyes as Rei and Nagisa whisper argued with each other.

"She was going to say Rin-chan's name, I couldn't just let that happen!" 

"I understand that I'm just saying was there really no other way besides making it seem like you were trying to kidnap her?"

[E/C] eyes flicked back and forth between the two teens who continued to argue about something you forgot about and frankly didn't care much about anymore the longer there small argument went on. "Ahem."

You let out a sigh relief when they both turned to you, seemingly forgetting their conversation. "Now that I have your attention, can we get back to the topic?" 

"Okay!" Nagisa exclaimed. "No matter what we can't let Haru-chan see Rin-chan, right?"

"Right!"

"Right!" 

You and Rei nodded in unison, not noticing the two figures approaching your small group from behind. 

"Is something wrong?" When you heard Makoto's voice all three of you let out noises of surprise, both you and Nagisa wrapped an arm tightly around both of Rei's arms. 

You turned around and saw the brunette looking at you, Rei, and Nagisa with a look of concern while Haru just arched an eyebrow at your weird behavior, motioning towards the arms that you and Nagisa were gripping onto for dear life. 

You looked up at Rei to see him as stiff as a board with his glasses surprisingly foggy. His face was burning a scarlet color that grew by the second as you continued to hold his arm tightly to your chest. 

With your eyes wide you almost fell backward as you skittered away from the blushing teen, your own face erupted in a fierce blush. 

You buried your face in your hands but you could only feel your face get hotter and hotter. 

"[N/N]-chan? Rei-chan? Is there something wrong?"

**"No, of course not!"** Nagisa stared at the two of you taken slightly aback. 

You turned your head up and met with Rei's eyes, you almost immediately turned away at the feeling of eyes on you. "We-We're fine, don't worry about it!" 

You felt relief come over you, your embarrassing interaction with Rei having (hopefully) taken their minds off of what the three of you could have been doing while crouched down on the ground whispering to each other. 

_'That's a relief. I mean sure it would have been nice if I could've changed the conversation without embarrassing myself but I guess beggars can't be choosers.'_

"What were you guys doing anyway?"

And just as relief washed over you were sprayed with a fire hose full of anxiety when Haru just had to bring up the original question that you embarrassed yourself to forget. 

"I... Uh..."

"Well, you see..."

"The thing is..."

You felt the air get warmer as all three of you failed to come up with something to answer Haru's question. Your eyes darted around the festival, your [e/c] eyes falling on every stall selling squid or something to do with squid. 

"We were talking about how much cool squid things there are here!"

You cringed at Nagisa's terrible lying but forced yourself to give a smile which definitely didn't look nearly as relaxed as you tried to make it. 

Out of all of the things he could have told them he said you were all talking about all of the squid things at the festival. You let out a sigh. It definitely didn't sound that unbelievable coming from Nagisa's mouth. 

"Really? Is that the bes- Oof!"

You looked up at the sound of Rei letting out a pained grunt and saw him holding his side.

"I mean there really is quite a bit of squid combinations that I never knew existed." 

Nagisa took a step in front of Rei, taking the two boy's attention off of the slightly disgruntled teen. "Anyway! Do you want to get something to eat? I saw a few interesting food stands near the goldfish scooping?"

Nagisa gave Makoto a nod before stopping at the sight of the two Samezuka swimmers walking by the stands nearby the crowded goldfish scooping game.

Nagisa grabbed you by the arm and pulled you close, draping his arm over your shoulder, ignoring the glare being sent his way by dark blue eyes. 

Not that he could really see it considering that it wasn't that different from the usual expression that occupied his face. "

"[N-N/N]-chan and I are just going to get squid burgers for everyone!" Nagisa gave a laugh that sounded extremely forced to the point it made you cringe. "Why don't you guys find somewhere to sit and we'll meet up there!"

Makoto blinked.

"Do you need any help?"

"NO!"

You flinched at the volume of his voice, your ears ringing. 

_'What?!' _

A faint blush appeared on Nagisa's cheeks. "I mean, it's a big crowd so it would be better if only two of us went to get the food, right?" 

A heated glare. 

Letting out a sigh you turned your head and sent a subtle smile to the two taller teens. "Of course, we wouldn't want anyone to get lost so why don't you guys go and sit down while we get everything." 

You put all of your energy to give them the most realistic and natural smile that you could muster and nodded your head at an empty group of tables set up away from the more popular stands. You made sure to avoid their eyes as you went on with the act knowing well that just looking them in the eye could make you break and tell them the truth. 

"It's okay, I don't really want the burger." 

"Then just go away for us anyway." Nagisa blinked at Makoto so many times in a row that it looked more like he was trying to get something out of his eye rather than he was signaling something. 

"Uh- Okay, let's go Haru, we're going to need to find a spot for all five of us."

"Right."

The three of you watched as their figures got smaller and smaller before finally disappearing once they rounded a corner. 

You all let out a breath that none of you thought you were holding. But that relief only lasted for a mere few seconds before terror fell over all of you, with one of you having any idea of what to do.

"Crap! What do we do?! What do we do?!" you began to freak out the moment they disappeared, grabbing your hair you pulled on it. You looked at Rei and Nagisa for an answer as to what to do only to see them as panicked as you. 

"I don't know!" the bespectacled teen panicked. 

"I-! Rei-chan make sure you follow Rin. Once you have a location text me and tell me where he is," Nagisa explained. 

Rei looked at Nagisa, slightly doubtful about the success of the plan he had just made up in his head. 

"Yeah, and once you tell us where he is we'll lead Haru in the opposite direction!" you finished with an encouraging smile, patting Rei on the shoulder. 

"That's a good plan but are you enjoying this?"

"Nevermind! Focus! We've got work to do!"

You gave a weary smile. "The enthusiasm's great and all but can you dial it back just a little bit..."

"We need the enthusiasm to get the job done!"

"Of course we do." you sighed out. 

* * *

"Is this completely necessary Nagisa?" You looked up at Nagisa and raised a brow. 

"Of course it is!"

"And the reason is..."

"That's it's necessary!" 

You groan, slapping your forehead leaving a faint red handmark on your forehead. "Why am I not surprised that's the answer you had to give me?"

Turning your head up you saw Nagisa looking around with a frown, any signs of a smile had disappeared from his face. You were less than stressed about the situation so you never thought about how any of the others were feeling. 

Now that you were Nagisa you could tell how much everything was affecting him. He was more bothered by the situation than he let on. Rin was here and if he and Haru were to meet there was a chance that things would escalate like who things have in every encounter they've had so far and Haru could just decide to quit the relay.

He let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding.

"Are you okay?" you utter out, concern clear in your voice. 

"Of course I'm fine!" he feigned reassurance. 

It was obvious that he wasn't but you didn't know any other way you could smoothly give a focus on how he was feeling. 

The tone in his voice changed from the usual energetic and cheerful tone that he spoke with to sounding more than dejected that you've ever heard from him. 

He looked away, noticing the concern you were showing in your eyes. "I guess I'm not as fine as I thought I was..."

He looked down at the ground, smiling down with a dejected smile as the two of you passed by one food stand after another.

You frowned deeply. The idea that you couldn't do anything to help hurt you more than you thought it would.

"I just wish things would go back to what they use to be..." he sighed out deeply. 

You looked down. "I do too..."

* * *

"Nagisa!" 

Somehow you got yourself lost from Nagisa after a few minutes of walking through the crowd. You found yourself getting distracted by yourself by a stand selling a selection of different squid desserts that you had no idea existed or ever thought would be a good combination. 

After a few seconds of looking at it, you looked back to point it out to Nagisa but upon receiving no response you looked over your shoulder and were shocked to find that he wasn't there anymore. 

You gasped as your chest tightened. You coughed as you leaned on the side of a stand feeling lightheaded, trying to calm yourself. 

"[N/N]-chan?"

You felt your heart race at the sound of your name being called out.

Almost immediately you turned your head and saw Nagisa looking at you, his head tilted to the side, frowning slightly at the sight of you.

"Are you okay?"

"Of-of course I'm fine!" You turn your back to him to wipe away tears as you take deep breaths, calming yourself before turning to look back to him.

"We're you crying?"

You stiffen at his question. 

"Of course I wasn't crying!" you say a bit too defensively, quickly wiping away any stray tears. "One of the stands was making some weird squid and onion shake or something like that."

"Pfft!" you look up and are shocked to see Nagisa trying to hold in his laughter at your not so impressive excuse. 

"That's all! Quit laughing!"

You turn your head away and pout as you continue to listen to Nagisa laugh. You feel yourself start to smile after a few seconds of hearing him laugh at you.

"Anyways, we should get going already," Nagisa said, wiping a tear from his eye. 

You give him a nod and take a few more steps before taking notice of Nagisa's fingers intertwined with yours. You felt your cheeks flush red due to the sudden contact.

"Um, Nagisa what are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

You turned your head down at your intertwined fingers, the blush on your face intensifying by the second. 

"It's so that you don't get lost," he explained. 

You let out a sigh of relief though you'd be lying if you said you didn't feel the slightest bit of disappointment at his explanation. 

Nagisa blinks, taking notice of the slight show disappointment shown on your face. 

"If you want to know another reason is because I just wanted to hold your hand," he gave you a wink, teasing you further. 

You barely giving any time to react before you felt him pull on your hand. "Hey! Look over there, let's buy squid burgers!" 

You were about to complain about being pulled along but stopped yourself when you looked up and saw the bright smile on Nagisa's lips. 

Seeing that smile was more than enough to make you forget about bothering to say something or even notice the faint blush blossoming on his cheeks. 

* * *

"Wow, that sure is a lot of food."

You let out a sigh. "Though it's not the combination I would've chosen.

That was definitely an understatement. The two of you originally intended to only buy squid burgers but after buying them Nagisa got distracted by a yakisoba stand and then a candy apple stand and so forth. 

It was certainly an interesting combination of food though not the combination you would eat even if you're life depended on it. 

"Hold on, where's Rei?"

"He's catching up with an old friend from middle school," you cut in to save Nagisa who looked like a fish out of water lying to his friends. 

"I'll go get us some drinks." Haru sat up suddenly, however you and Nagisa were quick to react, stepping in front of his path.

"No! You just stay here and enjoy the food!"

"Yeah, Nagisa can handle getting drinks? Right!"

"O-Of course!"

Makoto looked back and forth between you and Nagisa, it was clear to you that he knew something was up and it wasn't like you were doing the best job of hiding it. 

It was more than obvious that the two of you were hiding something and Haru being Haru wasn't really helping matter all that much either. 

"I'll help you then Nagisa," Makoto suggested, standing up. "You'll need help carrying all those drinks or you'll spill everything."

You and Nagisa exchanged nervous looks before giving nods in unison. "I guess I'll just stay here with Haru until you guys get back."

You nervously laughed as you gave them a small wave. 

You heard muffled dings and pulled your phone out of your pocket. You almost immediately glared at your phone screen at what you were reading.

_'I knew I shouldn't have joined that stupid group chat.'_

You let out a sigh. 

It took everything you had to not cry once you sat down across from Haru. You were completely exhausted from everything so instead of crying you just internally screamed at the top of your hypothetical lungs while you looked out into the distance. 

"Are you okay?"

You freeze. 

You look up from your hands and see Haru looking at you. "W-Whatever do you mean?"

You began to freak out but tried your best to not show it on the outside though you weren't hiding it nearly as well as you thought you were. 

"You and Nagisa have been acting weird all night."

"Pfft! We're acting completely normal." you tried your best to wave off his concerns not that he was convinced one bit at your words. 

He suddenly stood up. "I'm going to see what's taking Nagisa and Makoto so long."

Your eyes widened at his words. You racked your brain for something to say, anything to say. You needed to stop him and keep him here with you. 

You gulped nervously and stood up, grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling him down to look at you at eye level. You looked him in the eye and took a deep breath. "Have I ever told you about the crush I had on you?"

Time stood still for a few seconds. 

You stared at him for a few seconds before what you said set in. You internally screamed at how stupid you were for revealing something you thought you'd take with you to your grave.

You blinked and realized what you were doing.

You probably would've screamed out of embarrassment if you weren't in public or supposed to distracting Haru. 

You try to breathe and calm the furious blush on your cheeks. While you tried to calm down you noticed Haru's eyes, you never realized how pretty his deep blue eyes were and how easily took your breath away. 

"[Y/N]."

"Uh, yes?"

"Can you let go of me?" he pointed down at your hands still holding on to his collar. 

"Of course!" you said maybe a bit too enthusiastically. 

Haru looked down at his hands, a slight blush painting his cheeks. "Maybe I should get some fresh air."

"No!" you grabbed his hands and pulled them close to you, your face was burning red to the point that if anyone else saw you they might think you were sick. "I mean let's just talk!"

"I got it! I think I first realized I had a crush on you in our first years of middle school after talking with my brother who told me I liked you after I told him how I felt about all the girls in our year liking you so much," you wanted to shut yourself up but you had to keep him with you, at least until Nagisa came back with Makoto and the drinks.

You wanted to think you hated telling him about your old crush on him but part of you was glad that you were telling him this so that you could gauge his reaction to your words, to see if he was indifferent, weirded out, or weirdly glad.

You took a double-take at that lost thought, he definitely wouldn't be interested in you thought.

Why would he?

After all, you ignored him for a good three years for something he didn't even do to you.

You ignored that thought and continued to embarrass yourself, telling him about the feelings you had for him when you were younger. Your cheeks were burning by the second and you tried your best to ignore them to no avail. 

"[Y/N], I-"

"Sorry, it took us so long!"

You looked up and saw Nagisa and Makoto finally appearing. You let out a relieved sigh. 

"_Took you long enough!" _you whisper yelled to Nagisa. 

You narrowed your eyes at him trying to look at him as menacingly at him as possible with bright red cheeks. 

"_Sorry!"_

You glance down at your phone and see it completely bombarded with notification from the group chat. You let out a groan and brush a hand through your hair before opening your phone. 

* * *

_ **ya.yeet: ** _ _what is it?_

** _freegiyu: _ ** _don't freak out but utada bet three months worth of her paycheck on a team competition of goldfish scooping_

_**ya.yeet: **..._

_**freegiyu: **[y/n]..._

_**ya.yeet: **wtf?!_

* * *

You let out a deep sigh before shoving your phone back into your pocket, swearing under your breath while you kick at the ground. 

"Sorry guys but I have to get going." You point back into the crowded fray of people making their way in between stands. You look over your shoulder and frown at the sight. 

"Is there something wrong?" 

"No, it's nothing just a friend I came with did something stupid so I'm gonna try and bail her out," you said with a sigh, your annoyance clear in your voice. 

"Anyways, see you guys later!" you wave over your shoulder before making your way into the crowd. 

You're only a few steps in the crowd before you feel a hand on your shoulder, looking over your shoulder you find yourself looking into familiar Magenta eyes. 

"N-Nagisa!" 

"Sorry about that," he said with a laugh.

You looked to the side and let out a soft sigh. "It's alright, I guess I've been a little jumpy with how tonight's been, y'know the whole keeping Haru and Rin from running into each other thing."

"I'm sorry about that." Nagisa looked at the ground as the two of you passed by one food stand after another. "I know you didn't exactly plan to spend your time at the festival doing that."

You shook your head. "It's alright, I'd rather do that then spend an hour being dragged around the festival looking at shiny things."

Stopping a few feet away from the goldfish scooping stand you narrowed your eyes and zeroed in on a familiar brunette fidgeting while looking down at the pool of goldfish. 

"There she is, she's so dead once I get my hands on her," you whispered under your breath having already forgotten about the taller teen beside you. 

"[N/N]-chan, I wanted to ask you something?"

You turned to look at him. "What is it?"

"Would you like to go out tomorrow?"

A bright red colour spread across your cheeks in mere seconds. 

"What?" your voice was the highest that it was possible to go. 

"You know, hang out together?" he said sounding innocent as possible when it was obvious he was quite aware about what he sounded like when said go out. 

[E/C] eyes narrowed at him. "Why did you have to say it like that?"

"Say it like what?" he asked, feigning innocence. 

"Forget about it," you sigh out. "I guess I'm free tomorrow."

"Great! It's a date!"

"Okay, cool."

...

"Wait, what?!"

You turn on your heels to see Nagisa already at least 30 feet away from you, waving at you from over his shoulder with a bright smile on his face. 

"What just happened?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a.n.
> 
> i hope the reader can just chill one day 
> 
> anyways i'm not dead 
> 
> this is also the longest chapter i've ever written 25 pages(9k+ words) i really wanted to make up for taking so long so i began writing a bit more than i intended to so yeah
> 
> there isn't too much romance in this but there is some nice nagisa stuff in here
> 
> nagisa is probably the easiest the write romance for because he's not the type to hide his feelings that much if he likes someone
> 
> there was a nice haru moment where reader admits to having a crush on haru when they were kids
> 
> also the usernames for the group chat are just names i've used before
> 
> next chapter will have some nice nagisa, rin, and haru for the most part. 
> 
> also doing a q&a so if you have questions like why do you take 37 years to post an update just ask it
> 
> thanks for reading : )


	26. TWENTY FIVE | THE PAST IS THE PAST

_You were practically jumping as you spoke to Haru and Makoto, your eyes wide in excitement. “Did you hear?”_

_Makoto tilted his head to the side with a small smile gracing his lips. “Hear about what?”_

_Your eyes were somehow capable of getting even wider than they already were at Makoto’s question. You were more than happy at his words, already wanting to spill about the ‘special’ information you learned only a few minutes earlier. _

_“That we’re supposed to be getting a new student today!” You exclaimed, nearly jumping a foot in the air as you exploded in excitement. _

_Haru looked at you from the corner of his eye and let out a soft tired groan before shutting his eyes close, your certain demeanor being a bit too much for him and too early for him. _

_He sat up straight and opened his eyes, looking at you with his usual blank stare. “Can you please calm down?”_

_Your cheeks exploded, burning a crimson hue. “I’m sorry,” you apologized with a nervous laugh as you scratched the back of your head, mussing your hair. _

_Haru let out a sigh at your embarrassed expression. “So how exactly did you hear about this in the first place?”_

_You smirked almost immediately as if forgetting your embarrassment from only a few moments earlier. _

_Bringing your hand up, you framed your fist, bringing your pointer finger and thumb up to frame your chin as you went on to explain. _

_“I have very reliable sources,” you said, winking at him at the end of your very short explanation. _

_He sighed and continued to give you a blank stare. _

_You stood completely still under his gaze, a smile still on your face, not wanting to move under his blank stare. _

_“You got it from Kenji, didn’t you?”_

_“...”_

_A few seconds of silence passed as his words hung in the air._

_You looked at him with complete shock, your mouth wide open. Squeezing your eyes shut tightly you gave you pouted, puffing up your bright red cheeks in the process. _

_“K-Kenji’s reliable! His mom’s a teacher!”_

_You felt your cheeks burn as you pouted at him in your attempt to defend you reliable but in reality not so reliable source of information._

_Makoto waved off your flustered defensive with his usual smile. “I’m sure he is,” He said with an awkward laugh._

_As soon as Makoto finished talking you turned to him with an excited smile, the blush gone from your cheeks. _

_You talked to him excited about the possibility of a new student forgetting your embarrassment only a few seconds earlier as if your interaction with Haru didn’t happen just a few seconds ago. _

_Makoto just had a way of making you forget about things that embarrassed or upset you even if you had no way of explaining it. _

_Makoto glanced up._

_“I wonder who it’s going to be?” He asked, lowering his voice as he tapped a finger to his chin. _

_“Well-”_

_You were interrupted mid-sentence by your teacher walking inside, clapping her hand twice causing everyone in their room to stop whatever they were doing and return to their seats. _

_She greeted the rest of the class before informing the rest of the class about the exciting news that caused you to look over your shoulder and give Haru a smirk that without words said ‘I told you so’. _

_He narrowed his eyes and sent you a glare in response causing you to freeze in your seat and turn away in a matter of seconds. _

_You looked up at the blackboard with wide eyes as you read the name that she spelled on the board, the letters large enough for everyone to see. _

_ **‘Rin Matsuoka…’** _

_You only had a few seconds to take in the name before you were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. _

_You took your eyes off the board and turned your head along with the rest of the class to the new subject of attention that walked through the doors. _

_The new student, a boy around your age with maroon hair stepped inside the classroom making his way to the front to stand in front of his name written on the blackboard._

_“Hey, everyone,” he said as he began to introduce himself. “My name is Rin Matsuoka, before I came here I went to Sano Elementary School. _

_He pointed a finger back at the board behind him. “My name might be girly but you can clearly see that I’m a boy.”_

_“It’s nice to meet everybody and I’m looking forward to being in this class.”_

_The room was silent as everyone stared at him with wide eyes as they took in the transfer student. _

_He looked up, undeterred by the silence and stares and flashed a bright smile at everyone as a small giggle left his lips._

_That was the first time you met Rin Matsuoka. _

* * *

_While you walked to the swim club with Haru and Makoto all you could do was whine about Makoto and Haru stealing the new transfer student for themselves when they almost immediately asked to talk to him outside when recess finally came. _

_"I can't believe you stole Matsuoka-kun before anyone else could talk to him!" You pouted. _

_"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Makoto apologized with a shaky smile, "We didn't mean to do it promise."_

_"Fine." You huffed the single word out and turned your head to narrow your eyes at Haru who was silently looking forward with narrowed eyes with an annoyed expression dressing the features of his face. _

_You looked back at Makoto and whispered to him. "Mako-chan is there a reason why Haru-chan's so mad?"_

_He shrugged in response. "I don't know but Matsuoka-kun thinks it's because he transferred to Iwatobi," he whispered back to you._

_You and Makoto glanced back at Haru who at the last second shot an annoyed glare to the two of you causing the both of you to look away in fear. _

_To say you paled at the glare would be an understatement._

_You whispered back to Makoto, this time careful to speak soft enough for Makoto to hear but not loud enough for Haru to make out. "Did Matsukoka-kun say something to get Haru-chan upset or something? I've never seen him this scary before."_

_"I don't know, mayb-"_

_"We're here."_

_You and Makoto stopped walking and looked up to see, much to your surprise, the swim club. _

_You suppose that you lose track of time while you and Makoto talked and Haru glared into the distance. _

_Haru let out a deep sigh that caught the attention of you and Makoto. "At least he won't be here."_

_You and Makoto looked at each other before looking back at Haru._

_ **'Is there a reason why he doesn't like Matsuoka-kun? He didn't seem that bad in class...'** _

_"Maybe Haru just doesn't like Matsuoka-kun..."_

_You pouted and glanced over at Haru before responding to Makoto's statement. "Matsuoka-kun didn't seem that bad... Did something bad happen at a tournament or something?"_

_"I-"_

_"I'll meet you guys inside when you're done talking."_

_You and Makoto looked up in shock as Haru's disappeared into the building leaving you and Makoto behind outside the building. _

_Makoto glanced at you and you at him. _

_You then ran as you attempted to catch up to him._

_ **"Wait, Haru-chan!"** _

* * *

_Despite his hopes, there he was, Rin Matsuoka._

_"My name is Rin Matsuoka."_

_The three of you looked at Rin with surprise painted all over your faces, all of course for Haru who just stared at the newest member of the swim club with an annoyed glare. _

_"Before I moved I was in the Sano Swimming Club, I have a girly name but I'm a boy," He added._

_Haru harshly turned away as he made his way to the pool, making harsh strides that caused you to flinch slightly, making you think what exactly was his issue with Rin. _

_As he walked off you could hear him mutter something under his breath that you could faintly make out. "All I have to do is ignore him and it'll be like he's not there..."_

_"Hey, Matsuoka-kun! Over here!" _

_You and Haru looked over your shoulder to see Makoto waving over the new swim club member much to the already cross swimmer chagrin. _

_"Hmph!" _

_You looked over and saw Haru increase the speed in his strides as he hurried on over to the starting blocks ignoring you and Makoto calling out his name. _

* * *

_"This coincidence is kind of uncanny. Getting transferred to your school is one thing but the same swim club insane."_

_"Yeah, it's pretty amazing, isn't it Haru?" Makoto asked as he turned to look at Haru only for said swimmer to dive into the pool and start swimming the moment he finished speaking. _

_Makoto pouted. "Well, that was rude. He could of at least waited for to finish speaking."_

_You looked at Rin, your eyes wide in awe, they were practically sparkling. "Matsuoka-kun are you really joining the swim club?"_

_"Ye-"_

_"That's amazing, you've always been really good in all the tournaments I've seen you compete in!" You continued speaking not bothering to let him answer the question you asked._

_You went on and on as you continued to ask questions that he wasn't given enough time to even think about before you asked another or made another statement._

_He let out a nervous laugh, a bit overwhelmed at how excited you were at his appearance. "I'm sorry, but what was your name again?"_

_"Huh?"_

_You perked up in a matter of seconds. _

_"[Y/N] [L/N]!"_

_Rin blushed as you inched closer to him with an eager smile. _

_He smiled back at you as he attempted to fight his blush back. "[Y/N] [L/N], huh? That's a really cute name!"_

_"H-Huh?"_

_A pale blink blush appeared on your cheeks as you took in his words. "T-Thank you..." You said, turning your gaze to the floor. _

_You barely had any more time to process his words before he dived into the pool leaving you and Makoto to watch the two swim side by side._

_You stared at the two in awe as they swam, your eyes sparkling all the while._

* * *

You picked at your hair, pushing the loose strands of your hair on your forehead back, pushing strands behind your ears as you looked up. 

A deep sigh left your lips as you grabbed your stomach, there were butterflies in your stomach and there was nothing that you could do to calm down. 

_'Just calm down [Y/N], you're just hanging out... Yup, that's it just hanging out it isn't a date.'_

You opened your eyes and pumped a fist. "You can do this [Y/N]-"

"You certainly look nice."

"Ah!"

You yelped at the arrival of the new voice, jumping nearly a feet in the air before looking over your shoulder with a hand over your heart. 

You blinked at the person standing behind you before your eye twitched. You visibly stiffened, narrowing your eyes as you glared at them as sharply as you could. 

"What do you want Kenji?"

"Nothing, nothing." He said, raising his hands as he took a step back from you. "I was just walking around and I saw you here."

You glared at him once more. 

He flinched at your intimidating expression feeling. It felt as if you were trying to kill him just by glaring at him and it probably would've worked if he was looking you in the eye. "I promise it was just a coincidence!"

"Of course it was," you huffed out as you turned around completely to face him not daring to remove the glare from your face which didn't really make your words sound any more believable. 

"Anyway, for someone that wasn't excited for your date yesterday you sure are excited now."

"I'm not excited," you turned around from him as a furious blush began to grow on your cheeks, "I'm just thinking..."

You puffed up your cheeks as you turned your head down, your cheeks turning an even deeper red as the seconds passed. 

Kenji blinked. 

He took in your embarrassing state and smirked. 

He stepped in front of you, pushing his face close to you until his face was only a few inches away from you. "So you admit that it's a date."

Your face exploded into a glowing red as steam rose from your head. 

Kenji looked down at you with a shit-eating smirk as you sputtered and huffed out words that he could barely understand, your face growing a deeper and deeper red by the second. 

"Just shut up already!" You tried your best to muster a glare but from Kenji's point of view, you appeared to be as intimidating as a newborn puppy. 

"I'm sorry but you're really not scary when you're like this." Kenji was finally able to get out a few words between his laughter while wiping away a tear. 

"Just shut up alread-" 

You stopped mid-sentence as you turned your head, glancing away from the taller boy at the appearance of a certain strawberry blonde swimmer. 

There was silence. 

Despite the noisy ambiance that filled the mall and your surroundings, Kenji was surprised at only hearing the ambiance and not your voice.

He looked up at you, arching a brow. "What is it- Ah!"

You turned around with a blank stare and grabbed Kenji's shoulders, turning him around quickly before he had any time to say any words or even react.

He let out a pained yelp at the action of your foot connecting with his back as you kicked him away from you without any remorse. 

"What was that for?!" He looked up at you as he narrowed his eyes, sending you a sharp glare as he grabbed his back, standing up with a huff. 

You continue staring into the distance, ignoring Kenji as he continued to glare and whine about you not even caring about him4. You tuned him out as he went on and on, your eyes focused on the strawberry blonde looking for you as you tried to rack your brain for what to say when he finally approached you. 

Kenji stepped to stand beside you as he leaned forward to look at your line of sight. 

His shoulders slumped to only see Nagisa walking around, he was severely disappointed having hoped to see someone that would warrant him getting kicked into a bush. 

He turned to you, arching a brow. "He's here, so what?"

You glare intensely at Kenji, as if the answer to his question was obvious, making him feel like an idiot the longer you glared at him. 

You raised a brow, waiting for him to give you the answer that you thought was pretty obvious. 

He looked back at you as he arched a brow, drawing a blank on whatever type of answer you wanted him to give you.

You groaned into your hands as you dropped your head not wanting to even look at him. You took a deep breath before turning back to look at him even more annoyed than you were before. 

A deep sigh left your lips as you ran a hand down your face. "If you're still here when he gets over here than **you** being the idiot that you are will probably tell him that I was nervous and you'll make everything more awkward than I'll probably make it!"

"..."

His lips curled up into a smirk as he wiggled his brows, sending you a playful wink. "So you admit that you were nervous?"

Your eye twitched. 

"Ugh! Just get out of here!" You groaned, kicking him away as he laughed at the embarrassed blush that grew on your cheeks. 

You watched as he walked off, brows furrowed and eyes narrowed at his disappearing form. "Finally," you sighed.

"Finally what?"

You jump at the arrival of the new voice, letting out a high pitched yelp before looking over your shoulder, visibly relaxing upon seeing that it's only Nagisa. 

He smiled at you, giving you a small wave. 

"It nothing," you sigh out as you stand up straight, turning to face him, "I was just waiting for you to arrive."

He laughed softly to himself as he scratched the back of his head, messing up his hair. "I'm sorry if I kept you waiting for too long."

You internally screamed as you thought about how you were so nervous about hanging out alone with Nagisa in the first place that you showed up an hour early. 

Flashing him a smile, a soft laugh left your lips that made you cringe at how fake it sounded. "Don't worry about it, I've only been here for a few minutes myself."

_'God, that sounded so fake...'_

Nagisa smiled, barely able to hold in his excitement. "Really! Then I guess we should get going!"

"I guess so-"

"..." 

You stopped mid-sentence, tuning out your surroundings. You slowly look down at your hand to see your fingers intertwined with Nagisa's. 

A few seconds passed before you slowly looked up from your hands as your cheeks gradually turned a deep red. You were glowing a bright red by the time you were looking at Nagisa.

He smiled at you, looking the same as he usually did as if he wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary by holding your hand. "Let's go!"

Your cheeks burned as Nagisa pulled you behind him without saying a single thing about you and your flushed state. 

"..."

* * *

You looked down at your hands, poking around at the overly sugary and cute cake on your plate you listened to the high pitched character song that repeated on the overhead speaker. 

You nervously glanced up at Nagisa who was sitting across from you, happily eating his cake as if there was nothing wrong going on. 

Mostly because there wasn't anything wrong happening.

_'I spent six hours practicing how I would act and now that it's actually happening I'm acting like a complete idiot who can't even speak full sentences without squeaking.'_

You let out a soft sigh and closed your eyes as you took a bite of your food. 

_'It's been a while since Nagisa and I have hung out alone but I didn't expect to be this nervous...'_

"[Y/N]-chan, look up."

You opened your eyes, looking up without a second thought to see Nagisa holding a spoon up to your mouth. 

"Say aahh," he said, giving you a playful grin as he inched the spoon closer to you.

Without even thinking about it you opened your mouth and ate the cake he fed to you. You pulled away to chew when you opened your eyes to see Nagisa smiling at you. 

...

_'...' _

That's when it finally hit you about what had just happened. 

Your face exploded into a glowing deep red as you processed what just happened and what has been going only for the past hour or so. 

Nagisa laughed to himself as he watched you immediately look away from him and cover your face with your hands, burying your face in your palms as you cheeks burned a deep red. 

You couldn't describe how embarrassed you were and it wasn't even as if Nagisa was going out of his way to make you flustered like how he would usually do. 

You groaned into your palms as you squeezed your eyes shut.

_'Maybe if I keep my eyes shut I can just disappear and I can go home and forget any of this ever happened.'_

You stay still, your eyes drifting open slowly as you move your fingers from over your eyes to move slightly to the side to give you room to peek in between your fingers.

Nagisa propped an arm on the table, leaning his cheek into his hand as he smiled at you. 

The high pitched character song had been playing on repeat since the moment you walked in but the only thing that was annoying you was embarrassed you were getting and just how easily you were getting flustered. 

The simple action of Nagisa just looking at you was getting you nervous. 

You looked back at him, averting your eyes every few seconds before reluctantly moving your hands, dropping them to the table.

_'Snap out of it [Y/N]! You're just hanging out nothing more nothing less, there's nothing to freak out about.'_

You took a deep breath as you looked up, your eyes slowly drifting back open again as you turned your gaze back to Nagisa. "What is it?" You asked. 

"Nothing I was just thinking about how cute you are."

"Oh, okay... Wait a second!"

All Nagisa did was flash you a smile before returning to his food as if he didn't just say what he just said. 

_'I don't think I can handle much more of this.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a.n. 
> 
> nagisa needs to chill
> 
> i really need to be more consistent with these updates
> 
> anyway there were some baby reader, rin, haru, and makoto in this chapter so that was nice and there were also some nice nagisa moments if i do say so myself
> 
> i'm not exactly proud of the nagisa date section though, nagisa is the character i struggle with writing for the most so i just wrote how reader is feeling but i hope to write a better nagisa centric chapter in the future
> 
> btw if anyone is wondering why the reader is so flustered around nagisa it's because she still remembers him calling their meet up a date and nagisa is just really flirty and reader can't handle too much flirting lol
> 
> thanks for reading and comment something if you want to : )


	27. SPECIAL CHAPTER | Q & A

**Asked by ** ** [Littlequeenempire](https://www.quotev.com/Littlequeenempire) ** ** on Quotev**

**Can I punch Sousuke for hurting Reader-chan heart ︶︿︶ ? **

**And how many boys have a crush on our beautiful yet scary Reader chan ?? =￣ω￣=**

* * *

You can definitely punch Sousuke for hurting because he is responsible for a lot of Reader's angst but Sousuke is pretty big so I recommend punching him in the stomach.

* * *

The boys that have a crush on Reader would be Rin, Makoto, Nagisa, and Rei.

Rin has had a crush on Reader since elementary school and still has a crush on her.

Makoto thought she was pretty but didn't start to have a crush on her until about their last year in middle to their first year of high school

Nagisa has had a crush on her since they were kids, though Nagisa's crush was really more of a 'boy crush' when they were younger.

Rei has a crush but he views it more as admiration towards an upperclassman rather than a legitimate crush.

Sousuke dated Reader so he obviously has feelings for her, I would say his feelings for her are probably the most developed along with Makoto.

* * *

**Asked by**

** [Joyful spirit](https://www.quotev.com/Joyfulspirit13) ** ** on Quotev**

**You are not a terrible writer. I actually have a question. What inspired you to create this wonderful story? Emphasis on wonderful**

* * *

The thing that inspired me to write Daisuki was an old Free! OC that I found while cleaning out my old phone and I also just wanted to write it because I've read a lot of Various! BNHA x Reader but not a lot of Various! Free! x Reader and the ones I've seen haven't been updated in a while.

* * *

**Asked by:**

[ **Diashoy** ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diashoy/pseuds/Diashoy)

**This chapter really made me soft for Nagisa 🥺💗  
Some questions I have are:  
-Out of everyone who’s your favorite character and why?  
-Do you have the entire story planned out or are you making it up as you go?  
That’s all! Can’t wait to for more! 💗**

* * *

Out of everyone that has appeared so far my favourite character is Sousuke though Rin is a close second.

* * *

I have an outline for the story as a whole but I don't have all of the chapters for the story outlined and planned out. I really should have seeing as how difficult it can be for me to write sometimes, I'll definitely be outlining every chapter when it comes to writing season 2 and 3.

* * *

**Some random facts about the Reader because I just want to talk about her**

* * *

**-**Reader is about Nagisa's age, she a little younger but still older than Rei.

-She lives by herself due to her legal guardian, her aunt, and her older brother being gone for work.

-She and Sousuke first met near the end of their last year of middle school and started dating not long after they started their first year of high school.

-All of her knowledge of romance stems from dating sims.

-I personally view Reader as being around 5'0"(152 cm)-5'1"(154 cm) but I try to write her height as pretty ambiguous though she is shorter than Makoto.

-The restaurant that Reader mentions in the story belongs to her family and she currently works there as the manager.

-She currently only views Sousuke in a romantic sense (maybe Haru).

-She kept in touch with Nagisa after she left the swim club and that's why she says that she told Nagisa about Sousuke when he asks about her having had a boyfriend.

-Not sure if anyone wants to know but the fic, [Awkward Crush](https://www.quotev.com/story/12240057/Awkward-Crush-Free) actually takes place in Daisuki but I just didn't know where to put it so I just posted it as an individual fic.


	28. 𝑻𝑾𝑬𝑵𝑻𝒀 𝑺𝑰𝑿 | 𝑺𝑻𝑼𝑫𝒀𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝑺𝑳𝑬𝑬𝑷𝑶𝑽𝑬𝑹𝑺

𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙎𝙄𝙇𝙀𝙉𝘾𝙀 𝙒𝘼𝙎 𝙆𝙄𝙇𝙇𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙔𝙊𝙐.

You leaned back onto your palms as you looked up at the ceiling, taking a deep breath before closing your eyes as you took in the silence.

Turning your head down slightly, you peeked your eyes opening, looking at the black-haired boy sitting across from you in silence as he looked down at the study materials while not taking anything in.

You leaned forward, dropping your beneath your arms as you laid your head on the small table in front of you, cringing slightly at the cold surface. 

Nothing could make the silence between the two of you comfortable as you waited for Makoto to come back from his phone call.

You let out a soft sigh. 

The atmosphere making you feel uncomfortable you thought back to what lead up to the current events that made you regret even approaching the older male about studying in the first place. 

* * *

_Haru blankly stared out the window beside his seat in silence as the conversation that filled the classroom quickly faded into the background._

_The conversation between his two friends became more and more lively as they quickly forgot about him in his silence as they went on with their topic. _

_Closing his eyes, he let out a soft, barely noticeable sigh._

_There wasn't anything wrong with them talking to each other or even the topic of their conversation but seeing how lively they were was tiring just to listen to. _

_Shaking his head, he shoved away any thoughts crowding his mind, not interested in overthinking anything when there was really no need to do so._

_Unfortunately, the blue-eyed teen's peace of mind was quickly interrupted as a pair of hands slammed down onto his desk, awaking him from his thoughts. _

_"Haru!"_

_Said teen jumped slightly at the sudden interruption before opening his eyes, turning away from the window and to the figure in front of him._

_His eyes travelled from his desk to your hands up and up until finally, his eyes met with yours as he wore his usual blank look in opposition to the excited grin on your lips._

_Clearly unamused, he shifted in his seat, bringing his arm up to the desk to lean his cheek onto his palm as he stared back at you with no words. _

Y_ou immediately crouched down, grabbing the desk with your hands as you laid your head on the cold desk, looking up at the taller male as you took part in an unsaid staring competition._

_While you felt as if you face was aching at how much you were smiling you didn't have any plans to get rid of your beaming smile, too excited about what was on your mind. _

_Haru just stared. For an obnoxiously long few seconds he just stared back at you without even moving and barely moving at all, his expression completely blank and unreadable. _

_Finally, after a few seconds, he spoke up, giving up on the staring contest between the two of you as he let out a deep sigh._

_"Yes?"_

_Haru was just barely able to get his one word out when you jumped up from your crouching position, clasping your hands together as you closed the distance between the two of you. _

_The sitting teen's shoulders stiffened as he took a deep gulp at the sudden closeness, the once comfortable distance now closed by you, your face only a few inches away from his. _

"_Do you want to study?"_

_'Huh?'_

_Any signs of being flustered at the closeness between the two of you quickly disappeared as if poofing into thin air at your simple question._

_He wasn't exactly sure what he expected but he was definitely sure that he didn't expect to hear you ask him if he was interested in studying together._

_It especially wasn't what he expected you to ask him about considering how hyper you were acting and how excited you were when spouting the question._

_Haru blinked very, very slowly as he waited for you to further on explain, having expected for your question to have more to it due to how ecstatic you were while asking it. His eyebrow arched slightly as he continued to watch you smile back at him with no plans to actually say anything else._

_When nothing else falls from your lips he just sighs softly to himself as he drops his head, dropping his shoulders as he leans his back into his chair. _

_ "Wh-"_

_He isn't able to even get a word out before he's cut off by your coming in contact with the desk once more, pushing away from it as you stood up straight. _

_"So we can be study buddies!"_

_All the taller teen could do was stare back at her, blinking slowly as he processed her words._

_"Study..."_

_Trailing off, you quickly continued on for him, not noticing or ignoring the lack of enthusiasm in the older teen's voice as you eagerly nodded. "-Buddies!"_

_You practically jumped a foot in the air as you finished speaking. The excited smile on your face showing no signs of leaving as you felt it ache from how long it was on. _

_"Yup!"_

_Feeling eyes staring into his director Haru looked to the side through the corner of his eye only to be surprised by what he witnessed._

_There was Makoto._

_Said teen was watching at you with a small smile, his eyes soft as he watched you talk to Haru as if you were trying to give a sales pitch._

_In short, he was watching you with a love-struck expression._

_Makoto felt eyes on him as he looked at you, glancing to the side through the corner of his eyes he quickly notices familiar blue eyes watching him. He's quick to tear his eyes from you from his fear of being found out, hoping that he wasn't caught looking for two long. _

_A pale pink dusted his cheeks._

_He turned his gaze to the shorter teen, flashing him a small smile. The difference between this one and the one only seconds earlier was jarring to anyone that really knew the teen. _

_Makoto chuckled softly as he tilted his head to the side. "You might as well just humour her."_

_Clearly disappointed by the words by his childhood friend Haru turned away from the brunette, turning his attention back to you as he wore a tired expression. _

_Haru squints._

_The smile you were flashing at the older male was a bit too bright for his taste. _

_Haru managed to look back at you despite how bright your smile was for his eyes, breaking his silence by letting out a soft sigh to himself that normally couldn't be heard but you somehow were able to hear from seeing how your shoulders stiffened. _

_"...Fine."_

_An excited squeal leaves your lips at the word that fell from the male's mouth. _

_"Yes!" You clap twice, yelling loud enough to make the stoic boy cringe at the volume of your voice, not that you noticed of course. _

_Haru could only cringe slightly back into his chair at how excited you were about something as simple as studying together, something that was completely and normal and not special in any way. _

_Another deep sigh left the tired teen. _

_"Just don't-"_

_Of course, Haru wasn't able to his sentence out before he was interrupted by you cutting him off with your excited voice. _

_"We're study buddies now!" _

_Haru groans softly to himself before slowly turning his head up to see you rocking on your feet, a smile dressing your lips, feeling more excited than you should've been._

_Despite his feelings, Haru cracked a small smile while looking at you, no longer being able to help it at seeing how happy you were at the simple news. _

_Even with how minuscule the smile on his face was someone was still able to take notice of it and it was none other than his seat neighbour. _

_It's rare to see the shorter boy smile so, of course, it was impossible for the smile to go unnoticed by Makoto, no matter how minuscule the smile was. _

_"Haru, are you smiling?"_

_You blink slowly as you take in the brunette's words. _

_"Wait, really?"_

_Upon saying those words you immediately turn your head to look away from Makoto, turning your attention to the Haru only to see that Haru had already turned his head from you and Makoto. _

_Letting his shoulders drop after a few seconds of looking out the window, Haru turned back to face the two of you, any semblance of a smile completely gone. "I don't know what you're talking about."_

_Your eye twitched. _

_Plopping into your chair, you groaned loudly as you began to slouch into the uncomfortable chair. _

_"It's not fair," you sigh out as you bring yourself up to sit up straight, bringing your elbow onto the desk, resting your head into the palm of your hand, "Why can't I ever see Haru smile?"_

_Now that's quite ironic coming from **you** of all people in the world, especially considering the fact that a large source— or the main source— of most of his smiles in recent weeks. _

* * *

Back to the present, you were trying your best quietly drink the tea in your hands without making any loud noises to make things even more awkward than they were before. 

You let out a sigh into your drink. 

Things really went downhill quickly. When Naru suggested that you study together with the three in order to try and make things less awkward when you interacted you certainly didn't expect for things to end up like_— _well like this to put it simply. 

Every time you attempted you attempted to start a conversation with Haru it ended up being more one-sided than you thought it would be. 

You would try to ask questions to get the ball rolling knowing how much Haru struggled at starting a conversation smoothly but every answer he gave was either yes or no or a simple answer that quickly ended the conversation. 

Haru didn't even look up from his notes as he opened his mouth to speak.

"So, were you being honest about having a crush on me when we were kids?"

**H u h ?**

You slammed down your cup of tea down as you cough and choke as you attempt to swallow back the warm drink. You pound at your chest until you finally open your mouth, taking a deep breath. 

All you could do was stare at Haru in complete shock, mouth agape as you sputtered with no clear words be spoken from your mouth. Your eyes pop from intense and evident shock. 

"I-I..."

Haru ignored your gaze staring holes into him as he continued to look down at his notes, not daring to spare you a look as you continued to sputter. 

You continue to stare at Haru, completely frozen in place, blushing furiously. 

"W-Wh-Wha-"

Despite your attempts to speak, you're not even able to get out a single word, stuttering on one word as the blush dusting your cheeks became more and more intense by the second. 

No longer able to ignore your sputtering and stuttering any longer the blue-eyed teen finally looked up from his notes with a blank expression to see looking down into your lap, your face glowing a deep red. 

Feeling eyes burning into you, you looked up, locking eyes with Haru's deep blue ones before quickly tearing away with no hesitation. You looked up at the ceiling with a nervous expression, feeling beads of sweat on your forehead, your anxiety was absolutely through the roof at the silence. 

You pulled tightly at the collar around your throat, twisting it between your fingers as you tried to search for words to say. "I- um," While trying to speak you can hear your mouth dry in seconds. "Well, you see the thing is-"

Fortunately, before you could say anything else, you were cut off by the sound of approaching footsteps until Makoto walked into the room, saving you from any further embarrassment. 

A sigh of relief left your lips as you grabbed your chest, closing your eyes as you turned away while trying to catch your breath. If it wasn't for the brunette than you're more than sure that you would've continued to embarrass yourself but stumbling over your words as you tried your best to talk about something else, avoiding the subject that you were dreading to even think about. 

"Sorry I took so long," Makoto apologized with a hand on the doorway, "My mom just wanted to know if I was coming for dinner."

The silence and tension between you and Haru were noticeable to anyone, both you and Haru were facing in different directions, refusing to look at each other. 

Makoto blinked slowly as he looked back and forth between you and Haru, seeing Haru staring blankly to the side and you sitting a few feet away from the table, your back facing Haru as you covered your face with your hands. 

"Did I interrupt something?" He questioned. 

"No! you didn't!"

There's just a slight jolt of your body at his words but it only lasts for a second before you jump up sharply, making Makoto jerk back with shock and confusion. 

"Hana...?"

The brunette looked at you, his face full of confusion and surprise, his shoulders stiff. 

Nervous laughter left your lips at Makoto's reaction. You put your hands behind your back as you rocked back and forth on your toes, looking down to the side. 

"Y-You didn't interrupt anything, we were just talking about the work."

Another forced laugh from you.

You mumble, forcing words out in a voice that cracks with every other work, your voice's pitch getting higher and higher with every second. 

Everything that fell from your mouth sounded so obviously forced and fake. 

Despite feeling the urge to speak up he ignored the suspicious feeling at the bottom of his stomach. He couldn't bring himself to prod at the subject any longer. 

The air in the room was already filled to the brim with tension and he couldn't bring himself to add to it. 

"Oh, um- okay, I guess."

He dropped his shoulders as he reluctantly looked away from you, walking over to the table with a small smile in an attempt to get rid of the awkward atmosphere.

You sighed heavily. 

This study meeting is a lot more stressful than you ever thought it would be. 

"Hana?"

"Huh?"

You turn your gaze back at Haru at the sound of him calling out your name.

Looking his way you're not so surprised to see him looking at you with his usual blank stare. "Are we going to study or not?"

"Right!" You exclaimed as you rushed over to the two. 

_'All I have to do is ignore this and it'll go away in no time.'_

* * *

"Well, talk to you tomorrow Haru!" 

You and Makoto waved goodbye to Haru, leaving the said teen to standing outside of his house as he waved back at the two of you lazily.

Things went fairly well after Makoto came back. He was able to get the conversation going even if he wasn't able to do much about Haru not contributing much to the conversation. 

It made you jealous at how easily Makoto was able to talk to Haru and even continue to have a conversation with him even with the lack of material given by Haru to continue. It wasn't like you expected for it to be easy to become close friends with Haru after years of pretending like he didn't exist but you definitely didn't expect it to be as difficult as it was appearing to be.

But then again it was still Haru at the end of the day and considering the fact that even Makoto couldn't get him to fully emerge himself into a conversation you weren't all that surprised that you couldn't do much.

Haru quickly disappeared into the distance as you and Makoto made your way home though not it in the best atmosphere you had to admit. 

You and Makoto quickly fell into silence the moment you were out of the sigh of Haru's place, awkwardly fidgeting and looking away the moment each of you was caught looking at each other. 

For some reason, things just felt awkward and you didn't quite understand why. It wasn't as if he completely awkward all the time, whenever the two of you were with someone else like Haru or Nagisa he would be talkative and act like he usually did but for some reason lately he's been surprisingly quiet whenever it's the two to of you. 

While you're not exactly sure when it started you're pretty sure the odd behaviour began around the time the both of you waited for Haru and his place after the prefectural tournament.

You sighed heavily. 

It was moments like this that you truly wished you were better at communication. 

Shaking your head, you look at the taller teen from the corner of your eye, a concerned expression dressing his face. There really was nothing that you could do and considering your lack of comforting abilities you'd probably just make things worse if you spoke up. 

"You know," you glanced over to Makoto who's shoulders stiffened in contrast to his former drooping shoulders. 

His reaction seemed to cause the corners of your lips to turn upwards, a teasing grin dressing your lips as you took a step closer to Makoto, looking up at him teasingly. "You don't **have** to walk me home."

Makoto squeaked and jerked backwards before coming to a complete stop, turning his head to look at you so quickly that it surprised you that he didn't get whiplash. 

He was definitely not expecting you to be standing only a few inches away from him. He stiffened, all of the words that he was going to say suddenly disappearing the moment he met you face to face.

You were looking up at him with a teasing grin, your face only inches away from his own and you weren't showing any signs of embarrassment. It was as if you didn't realize how close you were to him and if you did know you didn't really mind the close contact.

While his mouth was dry but all he could even do was take a deep gulp as he looked down at you.

His face glowed a deep crimson red, the blush reaching his ears as he continued to look back at you for a few more seconds before looking away, his hand covering his mouth. 

All he could think about was his most recent interactions with you.

There was one thing that every single of them had in common. Every single interaction of something being done or said that would make him question the level of your relationship, especially after what he said that day while the two of you waited up. 

Still looking away Makoto spoke up. 

"Well, your place isn't that far from mine, so I just thought that it would be a good idea to..."

Makoto's voice got higher and higher with every single word that fell from his lips leaving you to watch with an amused smile.

His cheeks burned even brighter as he felt your eyes on him.

There has never been a moment in life when he wanted to disappear more than he wants to right now, he didn't expect walking you home to result in him getting embarrassed in front of his crush. 

Despite knowing how embarrassed your childhood friend was you couldn't help but let a small giggle escape your lips but not without being accompanied by a few partners. 

You smile wryly, giving Makoto a soft pat on the back. "Alright, whatever you say Mako-chan."

Makoto's shoulders relax slightly at your words, turning back a bit more but still not willing to look at you completely as he looked at you from the corner of his eye. 

He seemed to calm down and if you were a nice friend you would've been happy about that and not do anything to disrupt that but thankfully that wasn't you.

Your lips curled into a smirk.

"But if you wanted to get me alone all you had to do was ask."

Makoto was trying his very best to keep from exploding but at that very minute, he could no longer hold it in anymore. 

He finally burst.

You jumped back in shock as you watched Makoto's face erupt into a glowing deep red and you could swear that was steam above his head. 

All you could do was laugh off his embarrassment, you forgot how easily flustered Makoto could get but you didn't think he'd turn so red because of a small joke like that. 

"I'm joking, you shouldn't take what I say so seriously all the time," you wave off as you try to stop your laughter, a few giggles falling out before you're able to stop it completely. 

* * *

After that unique interaction, the rest of the walk consisted of rather normal small stalk along with the occasional odd question that didn't make much sense in hindsight. 

For the most part, it was normal and nothing bad or awkward happened between the two of you and the was really the thing that you were most happy about. 

"Looks like we're at your place already."

Both of you stopped abruptly once the sight of a familiar house came into view. 

A wave of nostalgia washed over the sight of the house, it has been years since you came by. 

After everything that happened with Haru you didn't stop being friends with him and Makoto but if you told people you were childhood friends with them they would definitely be shocked. 

When you remembered when you were younger you would always stay over at the Tachibana's, there was just a warm feeling once you walked through those doors. 

It was something you forgot after walking through the cold doors of a big and empty house that didn't have much if any good memories that you could remember. 

"Give me a second."

You were taken out of your thoughts, something that you had to admit you were grateful for, by Makoto who was already a few feet ahead of you, looking at you from over his shoulder. 

While surprised slightly you quickly returned to having a small smile on your face as you nodded at him. 

"Sur-"

You're not able to finish speaking when you're cut off by the sound of two familiar high pitched voices getting clearer by the second until becoming completely clear when the door was thrown open. 

To your pleasant surprise, it was Makoto's younger siblings, Ren and Ran running over to Makoto, large smiles spread across their faces as they jumped onto Makoto, pulling him down to their height. 

"Onii-chan!"

The two began to lecture their older brother for showing up late not even noticing your presence as you laughed under your breath at the sight. 

But that was of course before the two noticed you from the corner of their eye, seeing your figure shaking with laughter. 

Their eyes widened as they both turned their attention to you, becoming silent before jumping off their brother and running towards you. 

You immediately froze and watched in shock as they jumped into you, pulling you down causing you to let out a high pitched yelp that they ignored, their excitement was more important than any reaction that you gave. 

Their eyes were practically sparkling as they smiled at you, basically jumping in place as they barraged you with question after question without even giving you a second to answer.

"Did you bring cookies?"

A small laugh escaped your lips. 

The two of them were just too cute for you. 

"No," you said giggling, "It's just me tonight."

The two wilted into the pouting little kids that you remembered them as, puffing up their cheeks as they turned away from you, faking disappointment though they continued to hold onto your arms tightly.

**"But..."**

Despite their pouting, they immediately whipped their heads back around to look at you. Any signs of disappointment were completely gone. 

"But!"

You had to bite your lip to stop yourself from letting out another small laugh. 

"I could bring some next time if you'd like."

"Yes!"

The twins barely gave you enough time to finish speaking when they cheered in unison, high fiving each other in their cute excitement. 

Turning your head up away from the two younger children you looked up to see Makoto looking at you and the twins with a warm smile. 

"Sorry 'bout that Makoto," you gave him a small, apologetic smile as you tilted your head to the side. 

Upon realizing that you noticed him he stiffened before attempting to act normal, flashing you a small smile as he waved off your apology. 

"It's alright, just give me a second and then we can get going."

Before Makoto could even turn around a new voice showed up to the scene. 

"What's with this commotion? Hana-chan?"

At the sound of the voice, you immediately stood up as Ren and Ran let go of you. You flashed a small smile at the older woman before bowing your head slightly. 

"It's nice to see you again Tachibana-san, I'm really sorry about the noise."

Makoto's shoulders slumped as he watched the two of you talk to each other as if you didn't plan to walk home the moment he dropped his things off. 

"Are you going to stay over for dinner?"

_'Huh?'_

Makoto eyes widened in shock at his mother's question, it seemed as if the turn of events just didn't want to leave him alone with his thoughts. 

"I'm not sure-"

You weren't even able to finish answering when you felt both your hands being pulled forward.

Looking down you saw the twins looking up at you with puppy dog eyes. 

"[N/N]-chan! You're staying for dinner, right?"

Ren gasped in surprise before pulling down on your hand once again. "Are you gonna sleepover tonight [N/N]-chan?"

Their eyes were basically sparkling, it was impossible to say no to them. They were both too cute for their own good but at least they were good for convincing you to do things for them. 

Makoto watched in shock as his little siblings and mom drag you inside without even waiting for a clear answer from you, already deciding that you were staying over. 

He could swear his mom was doing this on purpose, ever since he accidentally let it spill that he might have a crush on someone she somehow knew immediately who he had in mind. 

A deep sigh left his lips as he brought his hands up to his head, running his hand through his hair, mussing it up as he repeated what just happened in his head. 

_'Are they doing this on purpose?'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.
> 
> Makoto is best boi and deserves everything.
> 
> Sorry for not updating in a hot minute, I just had some writer's block with this story and reading through and I'm not sure what I was doing with my writing.
> 
> The writing is really inconsistent and really contrasting compared to my current writing.
> 
> Don't get me wrong I'm not going to stop writing this story, this story is responsible for getting me seriously back into writing fanfiction but I will be revamping the story and changing things so updates won't be like every week or at least not once a week on a regular basis.
> 
> Any chapters with the font used for this chapter is a chapter that has been revamped. 
> 
> \--------
> 
> Discord: https://discord.com/invite/8HZaXVQ


	29. 𝑻𝑾𝑬𝑵𝑻𝒀 𝑺𝑬𝑽𝑬𝑵 | 𝑾𝑬𝑳𝑪𝑶𝑴𝑬𝑫 𝑴𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑲𝑬𝑺

The next few days were rather uneventful, nothing really interesting happened, well, at least not to you. 

You occasionally visited the swim club's practices, excepted even more resignation forms from a few upperclassmen and underclassmen, and worked. 

But you did text back and forth with Sousuke for a bit about a few unimportant things, it was almost enough to make you forget about the fact that Rin seemed to be ignoring you. 

Keyword, **almost.**

Despite your attempts to ignore the confusion and feelings of hurt from being ignored by the taller teen you couldn't help but feel a whirlpool of emotions. 

It went from confused to hurt to sad and it repeated over and over again and you didn't hide it nearly as much as you thought you did. 

Your brother was able to tell before the two of you even spoke to each other, randomly calling you in the middle of dinner asking you if you got into a fight with a friend. He explained it as 'older bother senses'. 

Then there was Sousuke, he quickly realized that there was something wrong a few minutes into a call hearing how detached you were from the conversation. 

And even though they didn't make any explicit comments about it you're sure that the rest of the boys knew something was up with you. 

You heaved out a deep sigh as you ran your fingers down your face and then through your hair, mussing it up as you leaned back to your chair. 

For once you thought that things could be normal but no, these boys just had to continue to be dramatic and stress you out- no, stop it. 

There's no need to act like this. 

Raising both hands to your face you harshly smacked your cheeks, sitting up straight and shaking your head with a stern expression as the hand imprints on your face began to glow a bright red. 

_'Don't do this [Y/N]! All this is going to do is stress you out over something you can't control.'_

Taking a deep breath you clasped your hands together, intertwining your fingers together only paying attention to taking slow breaths, your chest rising and falling with every breath that you took and let go. 

_'Youcan'tcontrolityoucan'tcontrolityoucan'tcontrolityoucan'tcontrolityoucan't-'_

**"UGH!"**

Jolting up from your seat, you threw your hands in the air before quickly pulling them down to your head, scratching your head and messing up your, fraying it sending strands of hair to fall into your face.

You harshly blew at the strands of hair in your eyes only for them to fall back in place less than a second later causing you to blow out a rough puff of air. 

"I can't handle this anymore!"

Within seconds of you saying those last few words you marched over to your desk, your feet stomping against the floor making echos through the empty residence that you ignored. 

Roughly grabbing your keys and ignoring the pain that you felt from it poking the palm of your hand, you threw it on your bed as you ran over to a small calendar on your nightstand. 

_'Two more days until regionals...'_

All you did after that was spend the next ten minutes shoving a small suitcase full of clothes and the bare essentials before pulling on a jacket and hurrying downstairs. 

Were you making a rather sudden and frankly stupid decision by deciding to skip school to get to the city earlier for the regional tournament?

Yes, yes you were. 

It wasn't as if you were under the belief that you were making a good or smart decision with your abruptness but you just needed to take Kenji's advice and not pay much mind to it, even though you're 100% positive this isn't at all what he meant. 

But then again, when were you known for making smart decisions?

After slamming the door of your car you leaned back or at least tried your hardest to. It looked and felt rather awkward to lean back into the seat with how stiff you were being. 

The next few seconds of awkward silence were rather uneventful, leading you to sit up straight and rummage through your bag, letting out a sound of accomplishment when you finally managed to pull your phone out from the layers of receipts and old wrappings. 

"Kenji."

"Yes...?" He answered, a bit confused at the lack of greeting on your end. 

"I'm skipping school for the next few days, or at least until the tournament's done, cover for me, k?"

On the other end, Kenji was sputtering and staring at his wall with wide eyes completely bewildered with what was going on with you.

After all, you just called him at 4 p.m and without even saying hello just told him you're skipping school until the regionals for what he assumed to be the swim club as bluntly as you possibly could. There was nothing to cushion him from falling from the heights of understanding. 

"Wha-"

"Bye."

You didn't even give him enough time to give you an answer on whether or not that he would do as you asked before you hung up on him, leaving him absolutely speechless. 

It definitely wouldn't hurt for you to take lessons on how to be a bit more tactful with some of the things that you said and did but then again, would you even do something like that?

People can still dream. 

* * *

It didn't take much longer for you to finally get to the hotel that you reserved a hotel room for last minute, only about thirty minutes to an hour. 

You took a deep breath as you fell back onto the soft bed, falling between the soft covers, closing your eyes as you felt engulfed by the blanket that covered the bed. 

A minute or so passed before you slowly opened your eyes, blinking slowly as you slowly opened your mouth. 

"This was a bad idea, wasn't it?"

For someone that was extremely book smart, you were incredibly dumb, lacking even basic common sense at some times that it was obvious that what you were going to do was stupid. 

_'Oh well...'_

Wasn't really a point in regretting your decision that much anymore, you were already there and you'd already spent your money on a hotel room, it'd be even more stupid if you decided to return back to Iwatobi because of your stupid decision. 

You kicked your feet up in the air, crossing them over each other as you pulled your hands up, folding them over each other behind your head. 

_'Okay, stop sulking and calling yourself an idiot in bed.'_

Kicking your feet to the side off of the bed, you managed to pull yourself off of the bed, groaning as you watched the sheets fall to the ground. 

_'Leave and try to calm yourself down and then you can call yourself an idiot.'_

The next few minutes consisted you of picking up the sheets and pillows off of the floor and checking out the rest of your room, looking through every corner and crevice of the room. 

As you expected, there was nothing interesting or out of the ordinary, it was just filled with the dime a dozen cheap decor and bad hotel shower essentials. 

You didn't really have a point in doing so but it was something to keep you from leaving, letting you walk around procrastinating about everything. 

Despite getting more and more annoyed by your procrastination by the second you had originally planned to just stay in for the rest of the day until your thoughts were interrupted by a set of knocks on your door. 

Room cleaning of course. 

If it wasn't for that then you're more than sure you would still be stuck in there moping around, calling yourself an idiot as you stared at the wall. 

But now you're calling yourself an idiot and walking around two staring at your feet. 

At least you could say it was a change of a pace but you still couldn't help but stress yourself out over your abrupt decision-

**"[Y/N]?"**

The sound of the familiar voice made you halt in your strides, looking up at from the sidewalk your eyes slowly widened as your shoulders stiffened. 

_'Don't tell me it's...'_

Casting a look over your shoulder you felt your eye twitch at the person that your eyes fell on. 

Of course, it had to be him.

Why were you even surprised?

Bringing an arm up you reluctantly and stiffly waved at the taller teen that you were less than pleased to see after such a short period of time. 

"Hey, Sousuke."

* * *

Teal eyes glanced over at you kicking at the dirt under your feet, a blank look occupying your face as you stared down at your feet. 

He heaved out a deep sigh as he brought his hand up to run it through his hair, mussing it up in the process. He blew out a puff of air as he leaned back onto the legs of the swing, turning his head up for a few seconds before looking back at you. 

"I know that you didn't expect to see me but you didn't have to look at me like you just saw a bug."'

You cast a glance up at him. _"It wouldn't be far from the truth." _You mumbled out under your breath, turning your head down, kicking at the dirt beneath you once again. 

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

Another deep sigh left your lips as you swung back, turning your head up to look at the sky. 

Once again, a deep, awkward silence between the two of you quickly formed leaving the two of you to look around, avoiding eye contact with each other. 

The silence was suffocating and too much for you to handle. 

You tightened your grip on the swing, ignoring the feeling of the swing's chains digging into your palm you closed your eyes and took a deep breath. 

Looking up you drew out a song of annoyance, immediately covering the rest of your face with your hands as your eyebrows began to furrow. 

"Ugh!"

Sousuke jumped slightly. 

He looked down at you in surprise, arching an eyebrow, curiosity taking over his expression. "Is there something wrong or...?"

"It's nothing..." You sighed out. "It's just that there's nothing interesting that I could do that would take my mind off things, I feel like I'm rotting away."

The taller teen looked at you before closing his eyes with a small smile, pushing himself off the swing. "If that's the case then how about we go on a date tomorrow?"

You whipped your head to the side to look at the taller male, your face's expression was full of surprise and confusion, still not quite believing what he'd just said. 

What?

Did he really just say that?

Though it was unintentional you looked at him with a look of confusion and slight disgust in a sense, narrowing your eyes and furrowing your brows as you sent a piercing glare his way. 

Noticing the less than friendly look that you were giving him Sousuke brought his hands up in his defense."Easy there," he said with a small smile, "I didn't mean it like that." 

He looked away for a second, a disappointed look finding it's way to his way to face as he paused.

"I know you're not interested in something like that." He muttered out, kicking at the dirt beneath him. 

While he was trying his best to at least try to make up with you he wasn't an idiot who thought that he could make up with you so quickly and easily. 

To think that he would be able to get back to the relationship that the two of you had prior would just be naive to think but that didn't mean he couldn't at least try. 

"It's getting late," he said as he turned his head up at the sky. 

You didn't notice how late it had gotten since meeting up with Sousuke. The sky went from a soft blue to a warm mixture of orange and pink. 

Even if you didn't notice it yourself, you were more than thankful for the interruption of your thinking by Sousuke. While the encounter was completely accidental you'd be lying if you said you weren't somewhat happy to see him again. 

Inclining your head, a soft chuckle left your lips. 

"Fine, let's go on a 'date' tomorrow."

* * *

You would like to say that you woke up bright and early the next day, getting dressed with a positive attitude as you stepped a foot out the door of your hotel room but that of course, would be a complete and utter lie. 

The next day you slept four hours in, a stark contrast from your usual early rising that you had become so accustomed to, but hey, at least you were up. 

After agreeing to meet up for a 'date' the next day you and Sousuke had agreed to meet up later in the morning after you had both gotten ready for the day. 

A deep sigh left your lips as you looked up at the mirror, running your hands down your face then pulling at your cheeks before slapping them. 

Yup. 

It was clear to you. 

You were going to die today. 

Maybe you should call your older brother, might as well just tell him he was in your thoughts in your very last moments of life. 

At least, that's what if felt like to you. 

For the first time in what seemed like forever, you were actually going to spend more than a few minutes with Sousuke. All of your recent interaction with the taller male didn't count in your head. 

All of those interactions were all accidental and not something that either of you planned, why would you be nervous about accidents like that?

This, however, was completely intended and something that you were given time to think about and stress yourself out about. 

It wasn't as if it's been years since the two of you have been on a date— I'm sorry I mean 'hung out'. 

When was that the last time that the two of you have actually done something alone?

It's been almost a year since the last time that you've done something together and were actually comfortable hanging out and there wasn't an uncomfortable tension that always seemed to hang in the air. 

You closed your eyes and you took in a deep breath. "It's not a big deal, all you have to do is act normal and not act like a complete idiot, if you can do that then everything is going to be alright."

* * *

"So..."

Let's just say that the 'date' that the two of you decided to go on hasn't exactly gone as well as either of you had hoped.

Sousuke's attempted at starting up a conversation, of course, ended in failure with you looking around at your surroundings with a nervous smile. 

He dug his hands in his pockets, inclining his head up to look at the sky, having already taken in all of his surroundings more times than necessary. 

The loud ambience of conversations by passerby filled the air around you but there was a tension between the two of you that couldn't seem to leave. 

A few more seconds of awkward silence between the two of you passed by in a few minutes though it seemed like hours passed. 

Complete silence. 

Finally having enough with the tense silence Sousuke took a deep breath as he squeezed his eyes shut, pulling his hands out of his pocket. 

He looked over to you. 

"So, things are a lot more awkward than I thought they'd be."

Taking a deep breath you craned your head up to look at the much taller teen, giving him an obviously fake, cheesy smile. "Maybe things wouldn't be so awkward if you didn't break up with me on my birthday through texts."

And just like that all of his thoughts silenced. 

He looked down at you with a blank stare as he repeated your words over and over in his head even as you looked away from, humming a soft melody. 

Stopping in your stride you looked back at Sousuke making him come to a sudden stop, looking down at you with the confused expression that had become usual in the short time he's been around you. 

"At least, that's why I think things are so awkward between the two of us."

You then turned back, putting your arms back to there place behind your back, going on with your humming almost skipping with every step that you took. 

"I didn't think things would be this stressful if I did I wouldn't have asked to hang out..." He muttered under his breath, running his fingers through his hair. 

"What was that Sousuke?"

He stiffened.

"Nothing."

* * *

Once again there was an awkward silence between the two of you, at this point you were starting to think it was impossible for the two of you to do anything without there being an awkward silence.

It wasn't as if you were under the impression that the two of you could act as if you were just old friends hanging out after missing each other for a while but it still was a bit tenser than expected. 

Though, getting dumped on your birthday by your first serious boyfriend through text message wasn't exactly the most ideal situation and definitely contributed to your less than enthusiastic attitude. 

You took a deep breath, closing your eyes for a few seconds before letting out a soft sigh, blowing away strands of hair hanging above your eyes only for them to fall back into place. 

It wasn't just Sousuke that was making things awkward. 

Just as it was clear to Sousuke that your mind was somewhere else it was more than obvious to you that his mind was someplace else. 

No matter how hard either of you tried you just couldn't stop thinking about him. 

That was when you finally decided to open your mouth. 

**"Are you thinking about Ri-"**

**"Did something happen with Ri-"**

Slowly blinking the two of you looked up from your drinks to look each other in the eye. 

Teal orbs were wide as they stared into your own [e/c] ones. 

"I-"

"Um-"

Once again the two of you spoke at the same time, cutting each other off as you both sent each other a nervous smile, turning away as nervous chuckles left your lips. 

Neither of you said anything, deciding silence was the best answer.

It was the decision that led to the most tension and awkward air between the two of you but it still was the best decision, at least it was to the two of you.

The tense atmosphere could be felt by everyone around but considering the lively conversation around you, it was obvious that they tried their best to ignore the tension in the air. 

"Pfft-"

You burst into giggles

The tension between you seemed to disappear into thin air as you tried your best to stifle your laughter which only caused you to laugh even more. It was even enough to make Sousuke crack a small, barely noticeable smile. 

"I'm sorry-" 

Even just trying to apologize for your sudden outburst seemed to make you laugh even more, grabbing your stomach with one hand as you wiped a tear from your eye with the other. 

"I just couldn't help it," you looked up at Sousuke with a soft smile dressing your lips, giving him the first real smile he's seen from you in a while, "Your face just looks so serious all the time."

"Huh?"

Sousuke sat up straight, lifting his head up from his hand.

"Do I really look serious all the time?"

You nodded immediately. "Of course you do," Upon seeing his arched brow you laughed softly to yourself once more. "I just mean you always look like something important is happening, it's like you glare nonstop."

He never did notice how often he really glared, it was as if he never looked in a mirror. It's hard for you to even remember a time when he didn't look so serious. 

"I'm being serious, if you keep looking so serious you're going to look like an old man before you even hit your 20's."

He paused.

Sousuke chuckled lowly, amused by your words. 

If he was being honest one of the things that he would never admit out loud was how much he actually missed how blunt you were with your words. 

"Ah! There it is."

He blinked. 

"There's what?"

You beamed at him. "You finally smiled, I forgot how handsome you really are when you smile."

What?

Sousuke tensed, muscles freezing up. 

If there was something he was never expecting to come from you especially now of all times it was definitely that.

After all, the two of you were just radiating passive-aggressiveness less than an hour earlier. 

He let out a soft sigh and laughed softly under his breath, a small but soft smile tugging at his lips. "If that's the case then maybe you should look serious more often if you want to older."

You puffed out your cheeks. "I don't look that young..."

"Of course you don't."

Sousuke continued to tease you as he looked at your pouting with a soft smile. 

"I don't!"

He just chuckled softly. "Alright, alright, you don't."

There was still nothing more fun to do than tease you and watch your amusing reactions. He just couldn't help but smile and chuckle at your pouting. 

When he first saw you again for the first time after your break up at the prefectural tournament he thought he'd regret it or at least think there wasn't a point to it but with what was in front of him, it was clear to him that seeing you again wasn't a mistake. 

Just seeing your smile and hearing your laugh again was more than enough to reassure him that seeing you again was more than worth the suffocating regret every time he saw you. 

At least he could see you smile again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.
> 
> Sousuke and Y/N's relationship is probably one of my favourites relationships, it's because they're both complete and utter dumbasses. 
> 
> Y/N radiates dumbass energy and I hope I was able to show that it properly. 
> 
> Sousuke is a simp for Y/N and is also lowkey a dumbass but that's why I love him so much. 
> 
> Anyways, stan Ian Sinclair for clear skin. 
> 
> Plus, I have a discord server(discord.gg/AgNCPAb) so join it if you're interested we occasionally talk about fanfics :)
> 
> I'm really desperate to meet someone shorter than me and I-


	30. 𝑻𝑾𝑬𝑵𝑻𝒀 𝑬𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻 | 𝑪𝑶𝑴𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑻𝑶 𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑴𝑺

𝙒𝙀𝙇𝙇, 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙎 𝙒𝘼𝙎 𝘾𝙀𝙍𝙏𝘼𝙄𝙉𝙇𝙔 𝘼𝙒𝙆𝙒𝘼𝙍𝘿.

"Nice to see you again."

You gave the taller teen standing in front of you a nervous smile and a stiff wave, your arm was tense under the sharp glare that he sent your way.

After one more day of spending time Sousuke doing little to nothing of real importance the day for the regional tournament came, time passed faster than you thought. 

But with that, a certain someone that you had left in a less than pleasant mood with your sudden request that resulted in him getting scolded by a few teachers for something you did.

Yup. 

Kenji showed up at your hotel, knocking on your door first thing in the morning waking you from your deep sleep, his continuous knocking annoying you enough to make you leave your bed.

You tossed off your sheets, letting them fall to the floor as you stretched your arms and rubbed your eyes on your way to the door, letting out a long yawn, half asleep. 

But if there was anything that could wake you up it definitely had to be the taller teen's dark brown eyes were stabbing daggers into you. Deep bags were hanging below his eyes, he looked as if he hadn't slept in days. 

**"Nice to see you..."**

He repeated words slowly, enunciating every word as sharply as possible, never daring to even blink as he did so.

Wow. 

He was definitely mad.

You can't really blame him for getting mad, after all, you gave him a random call and told him you were going to town and to cover for you to your teachers. 

But that didn't mean you still weren't absolutely terrified at how upset he was, he looked like a serial killer and if anyone could see the interaction between the two of you they would definitely look like a scene straight out of a horror movie. 

A nervous chuckle left your lips as you stiffly dropped your hand to your side, he was glaring holes into you, showing little to no signs of leaving you or getting rid of his glare. 

You glanced down to the side, taking a step back behind the door and bringing your hand up to your door, pushing the door close as you peeked from behind the door. 

Of course, you couldn't escape him that easily. 

His eye twitched.

To say he was annoyed with you would be a major understatement.

I mean sure, what you did wasn't exactly the biggest deal and compared to some of the other things that you've done in your entire friendship but still. 

To be honest, he was just confused by your attitude as of recent, you usually do stupid things but as of recent you've been doing stupid things even more than you usually do and with little to no explanation.

A sigh.

It was obvious to him that there was something that was bothering you but it was also clear to him that you weren't planning to spill about everything. 

So, of course, he had to try his best to get an explanation from you, even if it meant that he had to look like a villain from an early 2000's B-movie. 

"I'll talk to you later Kenji-"

You were ready to avoid conversation with the taller teen once more, pushing the door shut when you were interrupted by something blocking the door from closing. 

What was blocking the door from closing?

You paused before turning your head down to look down at floor...

Of course. 

Why weren't you surprised?

He just had to do it, he wasn't going to let you leave, was he?

Blocking the door from closing was Kenji's foot, having slid it in while you were giving him an awkward smile, stuck in your thoughts as you thought of what to say and do. 

"Are you going to let me in?"

You shrunk at the sound of his voice. 

It was rare to hear his voice get like that, it was rare for the brunette to get made.

Sure, there were the times the two of you would argue but that's always been the usual extent, for him to act like you knew there was something important on his mind. 

There was no way he would leave, it was obvious it'd take hotel staff to get him to leave you alone and even if you got security involved he wouldn't let up on it. 

You frowned for a few seconds him but then let out a defeated sigh as you close your eyes, looking back at up with much reluctance before opening the door. 

"Just come on in already."

* * *

While he had initially wanted to start talking the moment he stepped a foot into your room he didn't have the fortune of getting that. 

It was apparent that you were doing everything that you could do to avoid any conversation that went too deep into subjects that you've been trying your best to avoid. 

As soon as he took a seat on the bed you rummaged through your drawers, grabbing any clothes that fit well before running off to the bathroom. 

The excuse that you had given him was that you had to take a shower first and then you'd talk. 

He sighed.

This was something he should've expected from you. 

Running his hands through his hair, he leaned back, propping himself upon his hands. 

You always were the non-confrontational type.

If there was something that he knew it had to be that you were more than willing to help others but when it came to your own personal problems you wouldn't even think about. 

For some reason, you just needed to avoid it as if it was the plague. 

He clenched and furrowed his brows. 

Things were getting better, you weren't as stressed and worried as you were when the school year first started when you first started to think back on things but then things seemed to go back to what it was like before. 

Any attempts at trying to speak with you on anything that involved your personal life consisted of you refusing to comment and quickly changing the subject, acting as if he said nothing before. 

The sound of the creaky door slowly opening caught his attention, he looked over his shoulder to the direction of the small bathroom to see you walking out, being as careful as possible.

Of course, you weren't able to leave without getting caught. 

You groaned once you locked eyes with him, you just had to get caught by him, didn't you?

All you wanted to do was be as quiet as possible and at least try to leave the room without him noticing you. 

Kenji's eye twitched. 

It's moments like this that make him truly wonder if you're truly an idiot or not. 

Just why and how did you think you would be capable to sneak out without him catching you, it wasn't as if he was blind or deaf, you quite literally had to go past him to leave the room. 

God.

You're a dumbass sometimes. 

Without any words he left his arm and pointed at the chair across of him, speaking without any words. '

_'Sit. Now.'_

You froze in place for a second, your shoulders becoming stiff before you quickly ran over to him, plopping down in the seat as quickly as possible not wanting to upset any more than he already was.

He was really mad, wasn't he?

A heavy silence filled the tension-filled room, it was just making things even more awkward than it was before and it didn't help that the two of you just stared at each other the entire time. 

Both of you heaved out a deep sigh at the same time making you pause, immediately looking up at each and accidentally locking eyes before quickly tearing away. 

Isn't this nice?

This situation is just peachy, someone's bad at someone, no one's talking, and the tension is making you feel like someone's going to kill someone. 

Despite how bad things seemed to be going at least he could say that he was finally able to get you in a situation where he could finally speak to you without being too careful about anyone else hearing. 

Before, every time he spoke to you about things you were wary about people being able to overhear you about things but now you didn't have to worry about that.

You just had to worry about telling him about something that you've been trying your best to avoid talking about for almost five years now. 

A few more seconds of deep silence. 

That's when he finally decided to speak up, cutting into the suffocating silence. 

"I'm just wondering if you act his way on purpose or if you're just a dumbass."

You flinched. 

He just had to be so blunt with his words, didn't he?

You glanced up at him. 

He was giving you a glare that he showed signs of dropping.

Sighing, you leaned back into your chair, crossing your legs over each other. After keeping it all to yourself for so long you finally spill, even if it was the last thing that you wanted to do.

"I'm sorry."

_'Huh?'_

You looked up from your lap to see the brunette rubbing the back of his head, looking down at his hands with an apologetic expression. 

Kenji looked glanced up to see you looking at him in surprise, eyes as wide as saucers. 

Did you really have to act so surprised about him just saying sorry?

"You don't need to act so shocked to hear me apologizing?" He said with an arched, accidentally shooting you with a glare that caused your posture to become tense once more. 

"Sorry about that," you laughed out nervously, as you raised your hand to brush it through your hair, twirling your hair in between your fingers. 

He let out a soft sigh as he leaned back onto his hands, propping himself up as he stared up at the ceiling, not sparing you a single glance. "Sorry about that..." 

A groan. 

It happened again. 

Despite his numerous attempts he just couldn't help but push you to speak about the things that were affecting you, even if it was obvious that you weren't keen on speaking up about it. 

It was especially obvious that you tried your very hardest to avoid any conversation regarding the others and things that happened. 

Even with how long he'd known you and how close the two of you were as friends you were always hesitant to even touch the surface of things, and even then it would take a surprisingly amount of pushing. 

Despite Akihito's more passive nature compared to the two of you whenever it came to him pushing you the taller teen would always get on his case, telling him off by saying that it was your business. 

_"She'll tell you when she tells you, it's not to push her to talk, all it's gonna do is make her not want to speak about it even more than she already does."_

Just thinking about those words made him annoyed, even if there was truth in that statement it didn't mean that he never got mad at it. 

He knew that pushing and prodding you for even a sliver of information would only make you want to hide away when it came to those topics even more but he just had to get something out of you. 

While he never explicitly said it there was a part of him that was hurt when you would never talk to him about things, he knew that it wasn't anything personal, you talked to him and Akihito more than you ever did with anyone else. 

There would be times when he wanted to use the excuse that you were being immature withholding things back due to your personal feelings. 

Even thinking about how he would want to say those things would make him want to cringe and hit himself, it grossed him out with some of the things he'd want to say to you sometimes. 

Sure, it was immature but no one ever said that feelings were always mature.

"I shouldn't have been so pushy with everything, it was your choice to tell me about what you wanted and if you even wanted to talk to me in general."

A few seconds of silence. 

"Can you say something?"

"Huh?"

You jumped slightly, fixing your posture as you looked at the taller teen with wide eyes not quite sure what to say to him. 

Despite not originally thinking much of what he said you felt a sense of relief wash over you, in all the time you've known him you've never realized how much he tried to talk to you about things, especially the past with the boys. 

Now that you think about it, every time that you were worried about anything that was happening with them he was usually the first person that you'd go to for help.

He always just seemed to be open to talking about it. 

While not intentional you felt bad about everything that he said, it just made you feel like a bad friend. After all, you were friends with him for who knows how long and despite his efforts to help you all you did was push him away. 

You couldn't think of how bad that would've been for him. 

It made you think of how bad a friend you've been recently, you've taken so much without giving anything in return. 

"[Y/N]! Are you alright?"

Looking up from your hands you were surprised to see Kenji looking at you, concern written all over his face as he got up from the bed to walk over to you. 

He crouched down in front of you and grabbed your hands. 

What was going on?

Feeling something cold fall onto your hands you looked down and saw something wet hit your hand. Blinking, you brought a hand up to your face and felt the warm tears falling down your cheeks. 

You were crying tears that you didn't even know started falling. 

"I didn't say anything to make you cry, did I? Was I being too harsh? Did I say something out loud or something? I'm really really sorry I..."

Kenji's voice faded into the background as you looked up at him and his nervous expression as he began panicking over your tears. 

He wasn't sure what happened.

One second you were okay and the next second he looked back at you from the ceiling you were crying, a stream of tears falling from your cheeks and onto your lap.

He wasn't quite sure what to do if he was even supposed to anything at that. 

To say the sight in front of him was odd would be an understatement, it was extremely rare to see you shed tears and in front of him at that. 

It was something that he couldn't help but freak out, it wasn't as if he was completely incapable of comforting people but to see you of all people crying was something that he couldn't understand. 

Was it his fault?

Did you just feel like crying?

Questions filled his head as you stopped crying, wiping your tears away with your sleeve, watching the older teen intently with puffy eyes, not quite sure if you should feel bad for how he was acting or amused.

Ah. 

That's what you were feeling at the moment. 

You couldn't put your feelings into words and you didn't understand them completely yourself. 

Not being able to hold anything back any longer you burst into laughter, your shoulders shaking as laughter turned into held back sobbing, your shoulders shaking all the while.

Everything was silent other than your held back crying, Kenji not daring to even say a single word. A

While you understood that you were crying, you had no idea how to describe how you were feeling, all you could say was that you felt both amused at someone who you almost never got along with worrying about you and overwhelming feelings of stress and dejection. 

Sniffing back your last few tears you closed your eyes, burying your face in your palms, feeling the heat of your face hit of your palms you slowly calmed yourself. 

You didn't even spare a glance up at the brunette when you broke the deep silence. 

"I'm a really bad friend, aren't I?"

The question was left answered for a few seconds that passed by slowly, seconds feeling like minutes. 

He watched you with wide eyes, he was surprised by your words. It wasn't something he'd ever think would fall from your lips, if there was anything that he would never use to describe you it would be those words. 

Kenji let out a deep sigh. 

You were about to look up at him but was stopped by the feeling of a gentle pat on your head, softly ruffling your hair, careful not to mess anything up.

"Don't say things like that, you're not a bad friend."

A soft gasp left your lips at his words. 

Why did he have to say something like that?

You wanted someone to agree with you and tell you that you were right with your words, you wanted someone to tell you that you're right and you're a bad friend who didn't deserve the people that you were always surrounded by. 

"But I- I haven't even tried to be friends with them like this!" You raised your voice as you looked up at the brunette before covering your mouth with wide eyes upon hearing the volume of your voice. "All this time I've been trying to be friends with the kids I knew before, all I've been doing for the past few months is be a bad fri-"

"I told you, you're a good friend, just shut up and deal with it."

Kenji narrowed his eyes at you, giving you a look that made you shut up as you swallowed back the feeling you felt, keeping yourself from crying once more. 

Now, he was annoyed. 

You just had to try and deny everything he said, didn't you?

Just what was so hard to believe about what he said? He told you that you're a good friend and you just had to say no you weren't, people like you who were too stubborn for your own good were annoying. 

"**I said: **you're a good friend so just accept that already."

He was already starting sound a bit more annoyed than he was earlier, he couldn't help it, you were his friend but you still got on his nerves. 

But of course, you weren't having any of that. You furrowed your brows, holding your hands tightly to your chest, puffing up your cheeks in an attempt to look more upset than you actually were. 

As one would expect, it didn't look intimidating in the slightest. 

With your puffy red eyes and puffed-up cheeks, you looked more like a little kid that had just gotten done with a temper tantrum that didn't go their way. 

It looked cuter than anything. 

He felt his cheeks heat up, a light pink blush dusting cheeks. 

Thank goodness you couldn't see it. 

If you did, oh boy... He'd have one more thing he would've been embarrassed about. 

"Why can't you understand that I'm a ba-"

You weren't able to finish speaking when you were interrupted by getting a pillow thrown to your face, the force was a bit more than intended, though he didn't regret it, causing you to fall backwards off your chair. 

"What the hell was that for?!" 

The thrower of the pillow that nearly killed you, it didn't really do anything but the dramatics made things more interesting in your head, looked at you with a grin. 

He was holding the sides of his stomach, trying his very best to hold back his laughter though it was more than obvious that he was trying to do just that. 

You sighed. 

He was always bad at hiding how he was feeling even if it was a matter of life or death which not it was. 

Shooting him a glare you reached over to the side to grab the very thing that started this whole thing, shooting him a less than wholesome grin. 

Without any warning you raised your arm and threw the pillows in your hand as hard as you could, aiming it at his face, letting it hit before he could even react. 

He groaned as he fell back onto the bed, quickly tearing it off his face as he sat up to shoot you a glare that he quickly wiped away with a smile. 

"Pfft-"

You burst into laughter and squeezed your eyes shut and you grabbed your sides, tears were in the corner of your eyes but they came from some far better than insecurities. 

Kenji smiled and chuckled softly. 

If he knew anything, it was that it was worth it to see you smile. 

* * *

You spent the next few hours speaking with Kenji about random things that came to mind, that was, of course after he spent around thirty minutes lecturing you about making rash decisions. 

But of course, you ignored him and just smiled and nodded without taking in anything he was saying, letting it go in one ear and leave out the other.

A sigh. 

There wasn't anything wrong with the two of you that occurred in the few hours that the two of you spoke but he could be exhausting, though you weren't completely sure you should be the one saying that. 

Now you were walking around town window shopping without any particular plans for anything for the rest of the day, it was one more day until the tournament. 

You groaned.

One more day.

Another day of you doing nothing and wasting away, Sousuke was 'busy' doing things and Kenji had made plans to do something with Akihito in the middle of your breakfast with him, obviously not bother to tell you considering how shocked you were by his revelation. 

Your feet were aching.

Everything was starting to get boring. 

It wasn't as though the town was completely boring, no, there were things around that were interesting that included a few museums and cafes but you've done too much in an attempt to occupy your time. 

By this point even walking around was starting to feel like a waste of time to you. 

While walking by another pet cafe you made the decision to return to your hotel room having found nothing interesting to do. But then your [e/c] eyes laid on a familiar head of blue hair. 

Putting your hand around your mouth you raised your voice called out his name. 

Though you were still unsure if it was really him or not.

"Ryuugazaki-kun!"

Said teen stopped in the middle of stride at the sound of the name being called by a familiar voice. He looked over his shoulder to see you looking at him with a smile, your hands raised in a wave. 

"[Y/N]-senpai?"

Once you saw his face you immediately ran over to him, being careful to not knock into anyone on your way over, whispering apologies to anyone you accidentally touched. 

And before he knew it you were standing in front of him, craning your neck and standing on your toes to try an look him in the eye, it was a noble attempt even if it was a complete failure. 

"It's nice to see you again Ryuugzaki-kun."

Rei felt his cheeks start to burn as he realized how close you were to him, fixing his glasses as they fogged up slightly, "[Y/N]-senpai, it's nice to see you again, Kenji-senpai said that you left ahead of everyone."

You froze slightly before shooting him a stiff smile that truly showed how nervous you actually were, laughing awkwardly as you went back to your original height getting off the tips of your toes. "Yeah, I just thought it'd be nice to get here early, I had a few errands to run here anyway so..."

He watched as you muttered out incoherent sentences, trying your best to keep yourself from getting too awkward which in turn made you more awkward. 

"Um, [Y/N]-senpai?"

You looked up.

Rei was watching you with a nervous expression, a barely visible pink dusting his cheeks. 

It was now or never, 

After trying to work up the nerve he was finally going to try and talk to you, even if there was a part of him that was yelling in his ear about how this was a bad idea. 

You tilted your head to the side. "What is it Ryuugazaki-kun?"

"Can we talk?"

You blinked. 

"Sure."

Oh. 

He did not expect you to say yes, though now that he thinks about it he's not sure why he expected you to say no, it was more like he wanted to hear you say no. At least then he wouldn't have to grow through with this. 

A deep sigh. 

Let's just do this already.

* * *

The two of you spent the next few minutes walking to the park in complete silence, neither of you dared to say a single word, it was as if you were both scared to even speak. 

Every few seconds one of you would glance to each other and occasionally you'd do it at the same time, catching each other before ripping away in embarrassment. 

After finally getting to the park you let out a long sigh as you stretched out your arms and legs, making your way over to the swing set, plopping down on one the seats, motioning for the younger to sit on the one next. 

"So..."

"So..."

_'Goddamn, this is so awkward!' _

You had no idea what to do or say. It felt as if anything you said would come out sounding a lot different than you intended for them to be. 

Rei could only internally panicked as he tightened his grip around the swing's chains, his mind was full of things to say, coming up with new ways to phrase things every few seconds. 

"Um-"

"[Y/N]-senpai, how do you know when you like-like someone?"

_'hUH?'_

Now that was not what you were expecting in the slightest. In almost every single conversation that the two of have had it always been about the swim club and school work.

To even hear Rei talk about something personal and liking someone at that shook you to your core, what was there to say? I mean how are you supposed to answer a question like that?

You took a deep breath.

It couldn't be that hard to answer, right?

"Why do you ask? Do you have a crush or something like that?" You asked.

Rei stiffened at the mention of the word crush which got you to thinking, Rei didn't have many friends out of the club and the few friends he did have wouldn't really suit the type of person you'd think Rei would be interested in.

Hmm...

Bingo!

"Do you have a crush on Kou-chan?-"

"Of course not!"

Rei was now burning a glowing red, his cheeks were on fire from embarrassment, it was starting to get sad at how oblivious you were being. 

He turned away with a huff. "I'm just curious, that's all..."

"Oh, well, let's see..."

You inclined your head to look at the tree blocking you from the sun, racking your head form something to say, specifically something that sounded smart but not too cheesy. 

"I suppose when you do things like smile just at the thought of them or when you see them in things that you normally wouldn't relate them to I guess, I know this is vague but it's the best I could do."

Rei thought about your words. "Smiling at just the thought of them huh..." He looked over to his side to see you looking into the distance, a small smile gracing your lips. 

The corner of his lips curled up at the sight. 

_'So this is what a crush is like...'_

"Hey, Ryuugazaki-kun-"

"Do you think you can call me by my first name?"

_'Huh?'_

Rei was trying his very best to stay calm but his face was still burning, not being able to help the blush that was starting to form on his cheeks.

"Sure."

"Hmn?"

The taller teen looked up from his lap to see you shooting him a small smile as you swung gently. "It was nice talking to you Rei-kun."

Wow. 

Crushes really are something else, aren't they?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.
> 
> I love my boy Kenji even if people aren't really interested in my ocs lol.
> 
> Also Rei is a baby who doesn't understand what crushes are but I love him anyway.
> 
> I'm editing this story and I didn't realize how bad my writing was, l forgot I almost never edited anything.
> 
> I can't believe it took me 90 years to finally get some Rei moments when he's such a baby.


	31. 𝑻𝑾𝑬𝑵𝑻𝒀 𝑵𝑰𝑵𝑬 | 𝑴𝑶𝑹𝑨𝑳 𝑶𝑭 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑻𝑶𝑹𝒀

𝙋𝙀𝙊𝙋𝙇𝙀 𝘾𝘼𝙉 𝘽𝙀 𝘿𝙍𝘼𝙈𝘼𝙏𝙄𝘾 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙁𝙍𝙐𝙎𝙏𝙍𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙏'𝙎 𝘼𝙇𝙍𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏.

That was something that took you a while to understand and even now it's not something you understand completely or ever will but that's okay too.

For a while, you constantly told yourself that there was never a reason to be so dramatic over small things that, in your mind, didn't matter much.

Maybe you were being an idiot for not knowing that or not wanting to accept that, denying the fact at every given opportunity just for the opportunity to pass the topic over. 

Ever since junior high and quitting the swim club the idea of even looking back on those memories was something that you didn't understand completely and didn't see the point in. 

They were memories that were in the past and didn't have much if any influence in anything that was happening in the present or future, at least, that's what you thought before. 

You had to be honest with yourself it's quite disappointing that it took so long and so much for you to finally realize that fact. 

A deep sigh left your lips as you leaned back into your chair. You inclined your head, staring distantly into the inside of the umbrella above you. 

"So, are you thinking about how much of an idiot you are or...?"

You eye twitched. 

In less than a second you whipped your head down to shoot a sharp glare into the brunette, burning holes into him and that he decided to ignore, raising a brow on his uninterested face. 

"Y'know a part of me truly wonders why I'm still friends with you after all this time."

He leaned back into his chair, folding his arms behind his head as he closed his eyes, letting his shoulders fall as he let out a deep breath. 

"Same... ᴵ ᵈᵒⁿ'ᵗ ᵏⁿᵒʷ ʷʰʸ ʷᵉ'ʳᵉ ˢᵗⁱˡˡ ᶠʳⁱᵉⁿᵈˢ, ᵍⁱʳˡˢ ᵃʳᵉ ᵗᵒᵒ ᵉᵐᵒᵗⁱᵒⁿᵃˡ."

The last few words came out as more of a mutter, not wanting you to hear his words.

Before he could even let out a single breath Akihito's hand came down, roughly hitting the back of the brunette's head, letting out a sound that made even you flinch and grab the back of your head.

"OW!" 

Said teen grabbed the back of his head as he looked up at black haired teen who was simply flashing you his usual smile, ignoring the sharp glare that was stabbing daggers into the side of his head. 

Tears were in the brunette's eyes as he continued to loudly complain about the pain that he was feeling on his head, getting more and more annoyed as his friend continued to ignore you in favor of continuing his conversation with you. 

"Has things been going well with everything?"

"Uh..."

Your shoulders were stiff as you looked at him with a slightly confused expression, glancing over at the less than pleased teen who was hitting his friend's side without showing any signs of stopping anytime soon. 

That was when Akihito chopped his stomach with his hands causing him to stop and grab his stomach and look down at his feet, groaning at the pain put onto him by the taller male. 

Give me a second please."

You gave a hesitant nod, watching for a few seconds as he turned to talk to Kenji before you looked away, taking a few more sips of your drink. 

"Don't say things like that you dumbass!" Akihito whisper yelled, careful as to not let you hear any single thing that you were saying. 

He looked over his shoulder to see you with a drink in one hand and your phone in the other, your head was down as you scrolled through your phone. 

A sigh of relief. 

Now he knew for sure that you weren't going to pay any attention to him 

"Um..."

He immediately whipped his head to the shorter male, turning all of his attention to him as he shot him a sharp glare that sent chills down the brunette's spine. 

"I-"

"Can you learn to shut up for once?"

Despite being friends with him since before they could even talk it continued to surprise the second-year student about how stupid his friend could be. 

It was truly shocking. 

You'd think that after years and years of getting (well deserved) punishment due to his stupid actions and words he'd learn to read the room and shut up or at least be careful with his words.

"What did I do?" He yelled, still holding the back of his head. 

Another hit to the head. 

"Shut. Your. Stupid. Mouth. Before. I. Do. Something. I. Will Regret." 

He didn't even wait a few seconds for a response from the slightly scared teen before he grabbed his face, covering his mouth and nose. 

"I'm sorry! Please stop it!"

Your eye twitched at the scene unfolding in front of you, it wasn't something that you weren't used to but that didn't mean they still didn't annoy the hell out of you. 

"Then stop being an idiot!"

"I'm not being an idiot!"

Only a few seconds passed before the glare you were sending them fell, your narrowed eyes softening, lips curling up in a soft smile. 

The two continued to argue having not noticed that you stopped paying attention to your phone awhile ago, your eyes were full of amusement as you watched their back and forth. 

In all the years that you've known them, there were a lot of things that you could say about them but you could never say they failed to entertain you. 

"Are you two doing okay?" You called out to them, a teasing smile on your lips. 

Pushing the brunette away with from him with no mercy he turned to you with a smile, acting as if he didn't just almost kill his friend, well according to Kenji at least.

"We're perfectly fine [Y/N], don't worry about it."

You laughed nervously as he waved off your concerns with a closed eye smile that didn't help you to believe anything that he was saying. 

The fact that he was crushing the brunette's feet with his own under the table wasn't exactly helping things. 

"Um..."

"Kenji, what is it-"

You paused for a second, blinking then rubbing your eyes not exactly sure what you were seeing was actually what you thought you were saying.

"Uh... Kenji, dude... Are you- Are you crying?"

Akihito turned to see Kenji puffing up his cheeks and look at you with crocodile tears, he stared at him slightly disgusted for a few seconds before giving him a look of disappointment and taking his foot off of his. 

"I'm not crying."

** _'He was obviously lying'_ **

The two of you stared at the lying teen with nothing but judgement stares that you weren't anyway near ready to give up on, he wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he was crying. 

Exchanging looks with each other the both of you looked back at him and rolled your eyes in unison before leaning towards him with the fakest real smiles that you could muster. 

"It's alright Kenji."

"Yeah, no one really ca

His shoulders stiffened. 

A few seconds of silence. 

Without any warning, he turned to the two of you and shot the best glare that he could form your way even though it looked less than intimidating with his puffed-up cheeks and how red his face was. 

There was one word that the two of you could think of to describe what he was like currently. 

** _'Cute.'_ **

"I'm not crying!"

Of course he wasn't, I mean, there was more than enough evidence of him crying, one of which is the fact that there were still tears on his face that he failed to wipe away but sure, he wasn't crying. 

That was when you felt something was off. 

You looked over to Akihito in trepidation. 

_'Don't tell me-'_

He looked far too smug. "Really? That's not what the tears on your face are saying."

Your eye twitched. 

Why weren't your surprised that he decided to tease him.

A sigh. 

There was no stopping him when he started teasing and you definitely didn't want to become a target by getting involved. 

Kenji almost immediately wiped his tears away with his sleeve and looked back at the black-haired teen with a determined look that didn't look as determined as he thought it did. 

"I don't cry often then!"

Akihito doesn't even have to say anything for you to tell that he's smug beyond belief. 

He thinly smiled before propping his arm up on the table, leaning into it as he looked up at the brunette. "Is that so? Then tell me why you cried a few days ago when [Y/N] didn't pick up any of your calls."

"..."

Kenji stared at the taller teen with a blank expression, his face devoid of any emotions whatsoever before he started to truly process the words that fell from the black-haired teen's lips. 

Looking at him with a confused look, you tilted your head to the side. "Kenji?"

At the mere sound of his name being called by you, his face erupted in a bright red, his cheeks were painted a glowing scarlet red. 

His mind was racing with thoughts, he opened his mouth to speak but no words would come out, it was as if his words were stolen the moment he opened his mouth. 

"Pfft-"

You and Akihito couldn't hold it in any longer, the look on his face was too much for the two of you to bear as the two of you erupted in laughter. 

"Stop laughing!"

"Pfft- Sorry about that Ken," the two of you said in unison, holding your stomachs, trying your very best to hold back your laughter until the two of you burst into laughter once again. 

He puffed up his cheeks, turning his head away from the two of you, the tips of his ears were still burning a bright red. 

Just what exactly did he expect to get out of the two of you?

In all the years that he's known the two of you, it seemed to be mandatory for you both to team up against him. 

Heaving out a deep sigh he leaned back into his seat, throwing his hands behind the seat. "I don't understand why the two of you have to team up against me all the time."

Akihito looked up at him and flashed him a sweet smile.

"It's because you're Kenji of course!"

"That's not a valid point!"

You chuckled at the small scene in front of you. 

If there was something that they could do, it was making you laugh.

Before too long you were interrupted by the sound of a muffled ding coming from your bag, you dug through it until you finally was able to find your phone at the very bottom of everything. 

You really needed to clean it out, maybe then it wouldn't take you ninety years to find something. 

"Huh..."

Mumbling under your breath you began to put your things, your movement to finally get up caught the attention of the two boys sitting across from you. 

"Where are you going?" Kenji asked. 

"Hm? Oh, I have a meeting thing in half an hour so I should get going already-"

Kenji raised a brow at you, sitting up a bit more while still slouching a bit, he could let you know that he was actually interested in what you were doing of course. 

"Are you back with Kisumi again?"

Your eye twitched. 

Just when you're on good terms with him he just needs to say or do something to get you upset with him once again. 

Huffing out a puff of air, you shot him a glare. "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

Sure, he was completely wrong but that didn't mean you weren't interested in what he meant by his words. 

You had to be joking, right?

That's what Kenji was thinking I mean, it was as clear as day what he meant with his words. You and Kisumi were known in your small friend circle for having a bit of an off and on relationship. 

Despite the fact that both of you denied it every single time someone mentioned it, the relationship between the two of you was obvious. 

Just because he was friends with the two of you didn't mean he wasn't annoyed with how the both of you would act. 

"I'm just saying the two of you have been kind of a thing since middle school, right?"

You continued to glare at him. 

Feeling nervous he nudged the black haired teen next to him with an elbow looking for some backup. "You know what I'm talking about, right Aki?"

Akihito blinked. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You traitor!"

Staring at them for a few more seconds you let out a soft sigh and turned on your heel. "I just have a meetup thing with the others... **It's not a date.**"

"Of course, it isn't."

You stared at him for a few more seconds before finally taking your leave, waving goodbye to the two from over your shoulder. 

They watched as you left, keeping their eyes on you until your figure became smaller and smaller until it finally disappeared into the distance. 

He was finally able to let out a deep breath once you were out of range of his sight. 

"I'm surprised you didn't do anything."

Looking up to the side, there was Akihito looking at him with a curious gaze, his arms crossed as he leaned back. 

To say he was somewhat confused would be an understatement, for someone that has been rather open with his feelings with, him acting so nonchalant about what was going on was something that he couldn't quite understand. 

A humourless chuckle left the brunette's lips. "I really don't mind."

"Hm?"

The black-haired teen raised a delicate eyebrow at that. "And why's that?"

Kenji looked up at the taller teen with a soft smile that reached his eyes though there was a hint of sadness that the taller boy could notice. 

You popped up in his head and he felt everything that he was thinking about be reassured. 

"If she's happy then I'm happy."

* * *

"There's something about this that seems a little off."

"Zero points, more effort please."

"Yeah, I don't know you used to be more... Hm, now what's the word?"

Makoto tilted his head to the side as he racked his brain for a word to describe Rin when he was younger and bit less Rin...? 

I guess that was one way to describe it. 

You sighed and opened an eye to watch as Nagisa helped him out, unintentionally annoying said teen that they were talking about in the first place.

"I know! He was more charming!"

"That's the word!"

You laughed softly to yourself as you watched the interaction between the two boys, it was entertaining to say the least though you weren't exactly sure why they were doing this in the first place. 

All you got was a message from Nagisa asking you to show up for a joint practice with Samezuka and he didn't tell you anything about how they were going to have Rin introduce himself again. 

But then again you weren't disappointed at what had happened with his rather mediocre introduction. 

"Shut up, you guys are the one putting me-"

You smirked as you interrupted him. 

"Now, I think they're right, you were much more... Now, what was the word..." 

You paused, jokingly racking your head for something to say before looking back up to the front of the classroom with a small smile. "Cute!"

"Cute...?"

A faint, barely visible blush painted his cheeks. 

Continuing on with your teasing you kept your smile, nodding as you went on with what you were saying. "Yup, you were really cute when we were kids, now you're just... Rin."

His eye twitched. 

"Well, you were a lot less like a guy when we were kids too..."

Your eyebrow twitched at his words as you shot him a sharp glare that he returned back at you. "I am plenty feminine now you jerk!"

"I didn't-"

Before he could finish speaking he was interrupted mid sentence by Kou sliding the door open, giving her brother a disappointed look. 

"What are you guys doing? Our joint practice is starting in a few minutes?"

She looked at her older brother up and down with a scrutinizing look. "Rin, you're too old to be playing around like this!"

"Pfft-"

A small chuckle left your lips as you watched him get scolded by his younger sister, a small smile gracing your lips.

"[Y/N], are you coming?"

Huh?

You looked up to the doorway to see Makoto looking at you, his head tilted to the side. 

Blinking, you looked around the room to see everyone other than Makoto was already gone, leaving the two of you alone as he waited for you. 

"Sorry about that Makoto."

"It's alright," he gave you a small smile as he held out his hand to you. 

You looked up at him for a second before giving him a small smile and taking the offered hand. 

It was a nice feeling.


	32. 愛してる

**愛してる**

**𝑨𝑰𝑺𝑯𝑰𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑼**

**______________________________**

**_"_𝑰 𝑳𝑶𝑽𝑬 ** **𝒀𝑶𝑼_._** _ **"** _

**__________________________________________________________**

𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬

𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱

𝘸𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦

𝘪 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦

𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘪 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺

𝘪 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺

𝘪 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦

𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦

𝘰𝘩

𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪 𝘥𝘰

𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺

𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶

𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘪 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥

𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘺 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥

𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳, 𝘪 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘢 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭

𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘭

\- 𝙨 𝙤 𝙧 𝙧 𝙮 𝙝 𝙖 𝙝 𝙖 𝙞 𝙛 𝙚 𝙡 𝙡 𝙖 𝙨 𝙡 𝙚 𝙚 𝙥, 𝙚 𝙜 𝙜

**__________________________________________________________**

𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘱, 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴

𝘪 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘮 𝘫𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴

𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘪, 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦-𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘦, 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺

𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘪 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳

𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴

𝘪'𝘮 𝘯𝘰 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬-𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘭 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘦

𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯

𝘪𝘧 𝘪 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺, 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦?

\- 𝙥 𝙧 𝙤 𝙢 𝙦 𝙪 𝙚 𝙚 𝙣, 𝙗 𝙚 𝙖 𝙘 𝙝 𝙗 𝙪 𝙣 𝙣 𝙮


	33. 𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑹𝑻𝒀 | 𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑵𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑵𝑮𝑺 𝑶𝑽𝑬𝑹

𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙍 𝙍𝙀𝙇𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉𝙎𝙃𝙄𝙋 𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙃 𝙆𝙄𝙎𝙐𝙈𝙄 𝙒𝘼𝙎... 𝘾𝙊𝙉𝙁𝙐𝙎𝙄𝙉𝙂.

It was a confusing relationship to everyone that saw the two of you together and it wasn't as if either of you made things any easier to understand. 

Were the two of you boyfriend and girlfriend?

Almost every time the two of you were together it was in a romantic context or at least that's what it looked like on the surface. 

But then there would be times when both of you would start hanging out with other people and it was clear as day that both of you weren't just friends with certain people. 

It was frustrating. 

Why couldn't the two of you just have an established relationship?

I mean, would it be all that hard for the two of you to come out and just say whether or not you were dating? 

For the past few years, almost every single time either of you was asked about the relationship that the two of you had with each other both you and Kisumi would simply say you're friends. 

That was an obvious lie. 

Let's just be honest, most "friends" don't just kiss each other and go on dates on a regular basis. 

Plus, the fact that in your third year of junior high when you and Kisumi were voted best couple neither of you batted an eye or denied anything didn't exactly help things. 

If you were being honest even you weren't exactly sure what was the status of what was even the confusing thing that was your relationship with Kisumi. 

You let out a deep sigh as you fell back onto your bed, letting out a loud and exaggerated groan as your body sunk into the sheets. 

Despite feeling more comfortable than you were when you were simply slouching and staring down at your feet all you felt was more confused. 

Kisumi was a weird person. 

That was a fact and there was no denying it, for the entire time that the two of you have been... friends he's always been the type of person to never take much seriously. 

For that reason was probably why things with the pink-haired teen were always so casual. 

Every single time that you asked him for the status of the relationship between the two of you he simply said: "We're [Y/N] and Kisumi, that's it."

You scoffed. 

No matter the situation, he'd always repeat those words to you, even if you were on the brink of tears he'd describe your relationship with those words. 

I mean, sure, he was concerned but he would never do much, at least, not much that you knew of or could tell. 

But despite all that, you would continue to talk to him and carry on the somewhat unique relationship, even if it caused you some pain to a certain extent at times.

Despite the hundreds on hundreds of question about Kisumi, there was a question you had for yourself that you still didn't know the answer to. 

What did you feel when it came to Kisumi?

Kisu-

"[Y/N]? Are you still there?"

Right, you were on a call with the very person that confused you more than anyone else that you knew. 

Letting out a deep sigh you ran your fingers through your hair and gazed up at the ceiling with a small smile. "I'm still here Kisumi," you smirked a little, there was really no harm in giving in to the confusing relationship that the two of you had.

"Why are you asking though? Do you really miss me that much? It's only been a week or so since we've last talked to each other,"

He was surprised for a second before you could hear a soft chuckle coming from the other end of the phone. "Maybe I am, would that really be so bad."

You blink. 

"Hmph!"

Kisumi held himself back from laughing, he could just hear your pouting from the other side. "Are you pouting again?"

You felt your cheeks warm at the soft chuckle and words that he let out, he barely needed to do anything to make you all flustered. "Of course I am," you huffed as you turned your head. 

Dropping your shoulders, you pulled your knees up to your chest and stared distantly at your sheets.

He was always like that.

It always surprised you how easily he was able to tease you and make you flustered— though to be honest— you're not exactly the most composed person when it came to teasing and flirting overall. 

Despite your flustered state you continued to speak to him, trying your very best to put your embarrassed feelings to the side, acting as if your cheeks weren't on fire. 

"Y'know, I feel like you tease me more than necessary..."

That was something that was clear as day, no matter what the situation was he always seemed to have a lot more fun teasing you more than anyone else. 

A moment of silence passed on the other side. 

Then the sound of laughter broke through the silence, causing you to blink in surprise before digging your chin into your knees.

"Of course, you're [Y/N], it's hard to not tease you all the time."

Puffing up your cheeks, you narrowed your eyes and glared daggers into the wall. 

It was the best and really only alternative to glaring daggers into Kisumi as you talked to him, and it worked pretty well. 

The pink-haired teen could practically feel your glare burning holes into him and he couldn't even see you to know what you were doing in the first place. 

"Whatever," you groaned, throwing your hair back before resting your chin back into your knees. "So..."

You could hear Kisumi's movements on the other side. "So..." He asked in a playful tone— you could already see the teasing smile on his lips. 

Letting out a sigh you turned your head down and pulled at your sheets anymore, bringing a hand up to twirl your hair. "It's getting colder outside, huh?"

"Is there something you want to do?"

You took a deep gulp, the speed of your hair twirling increased until you ran out of your short hair to twirl. 

He really didn't make things much easier, did he?

But then again— why would he do something like that?

The fun of everything was getting to see your reaction to everything. 

"I was just..." You paused— you didn't think it was possible but your cheeks were somehow capable to burn even more, your cheeks felt like they were on fire. 

Waiting for a few more seconds you took a deep breath. 

"Do you want to hang out at my place again?"

Another moment of silence. 

Smiling, Kisumi leaned back into his chair and gazed up into his ceiling. "I guess I'll call up everyone else then."

It took quite a bit in the male to stop himself from laughing at the sound of your struggles and embarrassment, the idea of what you looked like was an image in his head that he couldn't quite get rid of. 

"I just meant, ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴡᴏ ᴏꜰ ᴜꜱ..."

"Pfft-"

"Huh?"

You looked up from your bed, eyes widening at the sound of Kisumi's laughter woke you from your flustered trance, his laugh just made you even more embarrassed than you already were.

"I'm just joking," he sat up and propped a hand up onto his desk, leaning into it as a soft smile found it's way to his face. "I just want it to be the two of us."

Hm...

Kisumi blinked at the lack of response on the other side.

A few more seconds passed by before he made the decision to speak up and break the silence.

"[Y/N]—"

"Come on!"

His attempt at speaking up was interrupted by you yelling and then by the sound of your phone being thrown across the room before falling onto something soft— it was then followed by the sound of fast and loud footsteps as you ran over to pick your phone off the pile of clothes. 

"Ugh!"

You picked up your phone and quickly ran over to your bed as you covered yourself with your blanket, covering your face with your hands. 

Even that simple act made you embarrassed, just feeling the heat from burning cheeks caused you to get even more flustered. 

Why did he have to make you so flustered?

He knew exactly he was doing!

Kisumi blinked as he listened to the weird noises you were letting out on the other side, while you weren't saying anything that was coherent in the slightest he could just hear the accusatory tone in your voice. 

"Is something wrong [Y/N]—"

Popping a head out from under your blanket, you looked down at your phone, you had a blush that reached your ears that glowed a deep red. 

"You're a real jerk, y'know that, right?"

"Of course I am."

Sitting up straight you grabbed a pillow and pulled it close to your chest. 

"You're so stupid."

* * *

The next few minutes of your call with Kisumi consisted of just a bit more of relenting teasing which you returned by calling him an idiot in different ways.

It took a lot longer than it should've to schedule when he'd come over to your place to hang out, he always made things difficult for you, even if it wasn't something that was intended.

Sitting on the floor you leaned back, turning your head up to stare distantly at the ceiling before closing your eyes and letting out a deep sigh. 

"Is there something wrong?"

Opening your eyes, you blinked slowly before turning your head to your side to face Kisumi who was simply giving you a small smile. 

"No," you sighed out as you ran your fingers through your hair, "I was just thinking about some things, that all."

Kisumi gave a small nod before opening his eyes, tilting his head to the side. "Um, I left my phone over there, can you pass it to me?"

He motioned over to his phone sitting next to you. 

"Sure."

You turned away from him and reached over to grab it, turning it back to give it to him without any problems which is something you probably should've thought about. 

Just as you turned back to face him and hand him over his phone you feel his lips against yours but you don't realize what's happened until a few seconds. 

Narrowing your eyes slightly, you glared at the taller teen and held out his phone to him as you turned away from him, feeling your face heat up. 

It wasn't something that was new to you, he seemed to like doing that more than just kissing you outright but that didn't mean it was something that wouldn't fluster you. 

You feel him grab his phone from your hand, purposefully making sure to touch your hand as he does so. 

Of course, you'd be surprised if he did anything other than that. 

Kenji always did say that he could never keep his hand to himself whenever it came to you. 

Despite your obvious flustered state you tried to calm yourself, even taking a deep breath to try and drop your stiff shoulders though there wasn't much success with your attempt. 

Ugh.

You could just see his stupid, pretty face smiling at your reaction. 

A few seconds of silence passed by before you made the decision to say something to break the silence that formed around the two of you. 

Letting out a soft sigh, Kisumi sat up straight after leaning onto his hand for a good few seconds. 

It was a common occurrence. 

The silence that is. 

For the entire time that the two of you were... friends, it was common for an awkward silence to quickly pop up between the two of you, mostly due to your less than smooth reactions to his personality. 

His personality was just a bit too much for you at times and you were 99% sure that he was well aware of that and did the things that he did on purpose.

In fact, you wouldn't surprised if he would just amplify certain parts of his personality that tended to get you flustered solely for your reactions. 

Despite all the time the two of you've spent together, you still couldn't bring yourself to get used to his constant teasing and flirting it was just too much to you.

But, despite all that, it was still something that you couldn't live without. 

Kisumi glanced over to you and muffled a chuckle at the sight of you, he could only see part of your red face and the red tint reaching the tips of your ears. 

Your breath hitched as you slowly dropped your shoulders, the blush on your cheeks slowly fading until all that was left a pale tint that painted the tips of your ears. "Y'know, you don't make things any easier."

"Huh?"

Glancing at him from the corner of your eye you felt your cheeks warm up again. 

He really liked playing dumb.

You leaned back against your bed and heaved out a deep sigh before leaning in closer to him until you were only a few inches away from his lips. 

"Nevermind."

* * *

The next few days passed by surprisingly slowly, you talked and had a few friends over, hung out with Kisumi in your free time and studied when you weren't busy at the shop. 

Even at the shop things weren't too interesting, business was annoyingly slow with only a few people coming in for a little before leaving. 

It was basically just full of the regulars that you were accustomed to, that was really the only thing that was making staying inside the shop bearable.

You let out a deep sigh as you buried your face in your palms, your hands muffling any sound that you were making in your boredom.

Nothing that was too interesting was happening and it was calm.

So, of course, something had to happen to ruin that. 

"Kenji's cute, isn't he?"

You freeze.

"Huh?"

What was she getting at?

She commented something like that out of nowhere, it had to be one of the most random things she had ever brought up during a conversation with you. 

Despite your platonic relationship with the brunette you couldn't help but feel your chest tighten at her words, a part of you actually felt jealous that she thought that. 

Rina must've noticed your hesitation to speak and the look on your face as you thought about what she said, it was just the expression that she was hoping to get from you. 

"Have you ever thought about it before, I mean, I'm sure he's plenty popular, he definitely has a nice face to look at," Rina said with a smirk. 

Just seeing that annoying smirk that she constantly wore made you feel a certain way especially with some of the things she said with it. 

But, she wasn't exactly wrong with what she said. 

To say that Kenji wasn't popular would be an outright lie, sure, he wasn't the most popular person at school but he was known to a certain extend.

Not only that, he also had a rather annoying group of fangirls that would follow his every move.

While repeating the smirking brunette's words back in your head you couldn't help but think of his face.

_'Now that I think about it, he does look really nice when he smil-'_

You felt your cheeks heat up at the thought of his face and just the thoughts that were going through your head. 

Just what the hell were you thinking?

Thinking that he of all people were attractive, why would you think something like that.

In all the time you've known him you would never pay attention to things like that when it came to him, sure, you thought about it when it came to others but never to him.

You just couldn't bring yourself to see him in that light.

It was a weird idea and you were sure that just as you never saw him in that light neither did he. 

All Rina could do was smirk at the scene unfolding in front of her, seeing your reaction to something as simple as saying someone had a nice face was more amusing than she ever thought it could be. 

But considering the fact that it's your reaction, it shouldn't be too surprising.

You always did have the best reactions. 

She let out a low chuckle. 

Looking up at the sound of the chuckle coming from the older female you took a deep gulp, trying to extinguish the burning feeling on your cheeks. 

With a smirk, she continued on. "Well, if you're not interested maybe I can ask him ou-"

Your eyes widened and before she could continue on with what she was about to say you interrupted her by slamming your hands on the counter. 

She was completely shocked by what just happened.

The brunette could only stare at you with wide eyes, that was definitely not a reaction she ever expected to get out of you in a million years. 

If it wasn't the conversations going on all around you then you're sure all eyes would be on the two of you due to your sudden outburst but even if they did notice you wouldn't really care much. 

All that mattered was your feelings at the moment.

That was when you said something that you never in your entire friendship with Kenji thought you'd ever say. 

"You can't!"

"Why not?"

"He's mine!"

Uh...

You blinked at the words that came out of your mouth.

_'He's mine...?'_

You couldn't believe what you had just said, there was nothing wrong with what Rina was saying but you still felt the need to say something that and you couldn't stop yourself from continuing. 

"Well, you're not dating him!" She pouted as she crossed her arms across her chest.

Any thoughts of what you just said disappeared as you continued own with your stance, desperate for her to not touch the subject any longer. 

"I don't care!"

"But-"

You leaned in a bit closer to her, your cheeks were burning but you didn't care, all you cared about was getting off her attention off of the brunette. 

"I said no already!"

Just as the two of you were going to open your mouths continue arguing with each other a familiar voice that you weren't expecting to hear cut the both of you off. 

"Yo."

Blinking, both of you looked away from each and looked up to the side to see Keji standing a few feet away with a confused expression. 

He was completely confused at the scene in front of him, all he did was walk in and the first thing that he heard and saw was the two of you arguing. 

Sure, the two of you arguing wasn't a unique sight but an argument which consisted mostly of yelling 'no' wasn't something that was too common. 

"Did I interrupt something?"

Rina opened her mouth to speak but before anything could come out you grab your bag, throwing it over your shoulder and locking your arm with Kenji's, pulling him out as soon as possible. 

"Talk to you guys later!" 

Rina and her colleague watched with varying expressions as you nearly tripped over yourself to get out with the brunette. 

Daichi, a college student and one of the waiters looked at the younger girl with a judging look. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

All she could do was laugh. "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't, who truly knows the answer?"

* * *

It took a while for you to finally find a place to finally stop after running with your arm around Kenji's. 

The only thing that was one your mind was the older teen's words regarding the brunette, you weren't usually the to get jealous but you couldn't help the feeling you got when you heard her talking about him. 

You let out a deep sigh as you plopped down on the bench with Kenji following suit. "Sorry 'bout that Ken," you didn't even dare to look up from your hands. 

"Don't worry, it's okay."

_'I mean, that was weird and you haven't given any explanation about what happened but I have a feeling that your reaction would be less than pleasant to experience.'_

Kenji tilted his head to the side to look at you, noticing that your hair was getting longer than it was usually was, it wasn't something that he saw often. 

You usually cut it as soon as it was getting too long. 

He didn't even think about it before he reached over to you, brushing your hair with his fingers as you turned back around to face him. "Is your hair getting longer-"

Oh...

Both of you blinked slowly.

What were you supposed to do?

Nothing happened for a few seconds before the two of immediately separated, resting your hands in your lap as there was no way that either of you wanted to brush the chance of even accidentally touching each other. 

"Sorry, again."

His cheeks began to burn, his blush reaching his ears as it painted the tips of his ears red. 

"It's alright," you said softly. 

A moment of silence. 

Things were awkward. 

Well, this was certainly something new for both of you. 

Taking a deep breath, the brunette glanced at you from the corner of his eyes and while he tried to not get caught you, unfortunately, notice him. 

"Is something wrong?" You asked. 

He scratched the back of his head as he turned away from you. "No, it's just that you've kept it short all this time because of Nats-"

You let out a sigh at the name he almost mentioned before stopping himself. 

There were times where he could be difficult but it was nice that he was considerate enough to try and not mention his name again considering how things ended with him but it gave you a chance to talk about it after putting it off for so long. 

"I think it's time to close the book on my first love already."

A small smile graced your lips as you said that and while you were wearing a smile he could still see a hint of sadness in your eyes. 

He sighed. 

Why was he not surprised that even thinking of getting rid of the possibility of your first love had an overwhelming sense of melancholy around you.

A few seconds of silence between the two of you passed before he glanced down at your hands. 

They were only a few centimeters away from each other. 

Just a few centimeters and his hands would be in yours, it was as easy at that. 

_Ten centimeters..._

_Five centimeters..._

_Four centimeters..._

_Three centimeters..._

_Two centimeters..._

But just before he finally reached your hand he stopped himself, bringing his hand back to himself and resting it in his lap. 

He took a deep breath and turned to you with a smile. "So, I've heard from Aki that you're talking with Sousuke again."

You almost immediately turned away as you started to feel your cheeks burn. "Yeah..."

Of course.

He sighed. 

"Are you happy talking with him again?"

Sure, he wasn't exactly happy when he heard about the news of you talking with the taller teen again, especially with how things ended and how you were with things but how he felt about things didn't really matter, at least they didn't matter as much as how you felt. 

You hesitated. "Yes..."

He held back a sigh as he turned away from you, brushing the back of his head with his hand. 

It wasn't what he wanted to hear but you were happy about it so there really wasn't much that he could do. 

"That's good, just promise me you won't be annoying like you were before if you ever decide to get back together with him."

The brunette muffled a laugh at the sound of the gasp leaving your lips. 

"What is that supposed to mean?"

You were genuinely confused at what he said, I mean, you weren't too annoying when you were in a relationship, were you?

All he could do was scoff at your question as if the answer was obvious and it was, anyone that knew you would say with much confidence that you were talkative about your relationship. "You seriously don't remember fawning over him and talking about him, day and night without taking a break."

"Hmph."

You pouted, turning away from the taller teen. "Fine, I promise, I won't be too annoying."

Kenji glanced over to you and smiled at the blush on your cheeks, your embarrassment was as clear as day and it was as amusing as ever.

He patted your head in response to your reaction causing your eyes to widen for a second before a small, elated smile curled itself upon your lips. 

Watching you, a small barely visible blushed painted his cheeks. "So, you can actually be cute at times."

You puffed up your cheeks at his words. "You have to ruin everything, don't you."

"Sorry, sorry," he laughed as he moved to take back his hand but before he could do so he was stopped by you grabbing his hand and putting it back on your head, giving him a look that told him to continue. 

He blinked slowly before continuing with a small smile. 

"Sure, whatever you want boss."

* * *

You were in the middle of reading a new book you had a few days earlier when you were interrupted by the sound of the doorbell going off.

"That's odd..." You mumbled softly to yourself. 

It wasn't as if you were expecting anyone to come over and you didn't get much visitors, at least not that many surprise visitors. 

Letting out a deep sigh, you reluctantly stood up from your chair and made your way to the door, making sure to pat down your hair in clothes in an attempt to look somewhat presentable. 

"Hello, how can I help yo-"

What?

At the sight of the person standing right outside the door, you almost immediately tried to shut the door on him with little to no hesitance, a stoic expression finding it's way to your face.

Who was the person that you tried to close the door on that you didn't to even see?

It was, of course, your older brother, Shintaro. 

You knew that he was coming back home for a little while but that didn't mean you wanted to see his annoying face especially considering how he acted when you were around... certain people, specifically of the male gender. 

While you tried your very best to keep him out there was very little success as he was able to stick his for in before you were able to close it completely. 

He let out a pained groaned at the feeling of the door slamming on his foot. 

You looked up at the older male with a slightly disgusted look before you slammed the door on his foot once again causing him to let out a series of words that would not want to repeat in front of people of the younger demographic. 

"What is the matter with you?!"

You blinked. 

Ignoring him you asked him a question. "What are you doing here?"

He narrowed his eyes at you as he grabbed his foot, pushing open the door as he made his way inside, moving past you much to your dismay. "This is my house, you brat."

"**Technically**, this is Aunt Himika's house." 

"You know what I meant you little..."

* * *

"Stupid jerk... Why do I have to buy his stupid stuff for him? Can't he get off his stupid... and get it himself..."

You continued to mumble to yourself as you walked out of the convenience store that was only a few minutes away from your home, not looking up causing you to not notice a familiar figure. 

Accidentally bumping into someone you looked up and hurled as many apologies as possible in only a few seconds. "I'm really sorry about that, I should've watched where I was- Haru?"

The two of you spoke for a few minutes before he offered to walk you home, telling you that he didn't have much to do when you told him that there wasn't a need for it. 

Ugh. 

The real reason why you didn't want him to escort you home was due to the presence of a relative that you wished would've vanished into thin air. 

If he saw you Haru he was most definitely going to make certain assumptions that would've been less than pleased about. 

You let out a deep sigh.

Just how was this going to play out?

Maybe you could quickly say goodbye and go inside before Shintaro could see him and make any assumptions or say anything to the blue-eyed teen. 

Or you could-

"You've been a lot happier recently."

Huh?

Blinking, you looked up at the male walking beside you who was holding his usual blank expression. "I have?" You asked with a surprised look on your face. 

He simply gave you a small nod. "You've been smiling differently."

The words that he said caused your cheeks to heat up even if that wasn't his attention by stating his observation. "I guess things have been making me happier."

* * *

**A.N.**

I'm a hardcore Kisumi simp and I have no shame. 

Also, I've made the decision to make Kenji a love interest just because I love him so much and I give him way too much angst for how baby he is. 

I just wanted to say thank you because this fic, in the beginning, wasn't the best, I was just trying to write a fic to fulfil my ideas for my OC and I didn't expect to have so many people read this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I have a discord server if anyone's interested.  
https://discord.com/invite/kg5d4Ja


	34. 𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑹𝑻𝒀 𝑶𝑵𝑬 | 𝑴𝒀 𝑭𝑬𝑬𝑳𝑰𝑵𝑮𝑺 𝑱𝑼𝑺𝑻 𝑾𝑶𝑵'𝑻 𝑫𝑰𝑬

𝙒𝙃𝙔 𝘼𝙍𝙀 𝙊𝙇𝘿𝙀𝙍 𝘽𝙍𝙊𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙍𝙎 𝙎𝙊 𝘼𝙉𝙉𝙊𝙔𝙄𝙉𝙂_**?**_

It was as if it was ingrained into their DNA to simply annoy their young siblings and there was no better proof of that then your older brother.

For some reason, he felt the need to constantly insert himself into your problems even when you would explicitly tell him not to.

You narrowed yours and furrowed your brows as you stared down the much taller teen, not caring for the fact that he could've probably picked you up with one arm.

All you were feeling was annoyance at what happened earlier between him and Haru and nothing could take your mind off of that.

Not even his bribes of your favourite food would make you stop thinking about how much of an idiot he truly is and stop you from getting upset at him.

Sure, it might've worked with you when you were in middle school but now you were a high schooler that wasn't as stupid as to be bought off so easily.

"Why are you always so annoying Shin!"

The black-haired teen felt an arrow go through his heart at your words, sure, he's heard those words from you more time than he could count but still hearing his little sister saying something like that was still disappointing.

He looked away from you as he tried his very best to hold back his <s>tears</s> blatant annoyance at the things you were saying to him.

You were much cuter and nicer when you were younger and not old enough to say words that he didn't think he'd ever hear fall from his younger sister's mouth.

Heaving out a sigh, he reluctantly looked back to you but he still continued to avoid the glare that you were shooting him. "I don't know what I did that was so wrong?"

Is he serious?

There was absolutely no way that he was being serious with what he said.

Shintaro had a habit of saying some seriously stupid things that made you question how the two of you were even related in the first place but he wasn't completely stupid.

At least, you were hoping he wasn't.

"Ugh, are you serious? Do you really not know what you did?"

He simply arched a brow and shrugged his shoulders. 

Yup.

For sure, you know that truth now.

He is an idiot through and through and nothing in the world will ever change your mind about that. 

It was something that you thought was obvious, he was very clear with his attitude when it came to talking to certain people that talked to you. 

You rolled your eyes as put a hand on your hip. "Do I need to remind you what happened only a few minutes ago?"

* * *

_"Thanks for coming with me Haru," you let out a deep sigh as you dropped your head, taking the bags from his hands. "Shin was being annoying so he made me buy all of his stupid snacks."_

_"It's alright, I didn't have to do anything else to do anyways."_

_You blinked slowly before giving him a small smile. "Well, thanks anyway."_

_Crap._

_Before you even realized it the two of you were in front of your house, this was exactly the thing that you wanted to avoid but you, unfortunately, had gotten too caught up while talking to Haru. _

_Your eye twitched._

_Reluctantly glancing at Haru from the corner of your eyes only made you even more nervous, making you wonder why you looked at him in the first place._

_Maybe it would've been better if you just told him you didn't need his help, you could've just struggled to carry your bags back all without worrying about how stupid Shin was. _

_"Haru, I don't mean to be rude bu-"_

_You were immediately cut off by the door swinging open, causing you to flinch and almost jump feet into the air in surprise, the slamming of the door catching you off guard. _

_Eye twitching, you reluctantly and stiffly turned your head away from Haru, following his gaze to the <s>idiot</s> person standing in the doorway. _

_Shintaro narrowed his eyes, sending a sharp glare into the direction of the younger male. _

_"Haru."_

_"Shintaro."_

_Ugh. _

_This is what you meant when it came to as to why you did want Haru to meet up with your older brother, he tended to glare at everyone, specifically of the male gender, that was around you. It was time to but in. _

_You took a step inside you stomped on his foot, ignoring the muffled pained noise he made and the look annoyed look that he was shooting you. _

_Looking over your shoulder, you shot a small closed eye smile at the taller male that looked peaceful despite the internal screaming go on inside your head. "Sorry about that Haru, I'll talk to you later."_

_He gave you a small wave. "Alrig-"_

_The blue-eyed teen wasn't even given enough time to say goodbye when you cut him off by roughing pushing in the older male and slamming the door shut. _

_"-ht."_

* * *

"I still don't get what the big deal is."

Despite your entire explanation of what he did and how it was annoying he continued to deny any responsibility for what happened and his overall behaviour. 

Burying your face in your hands you let out a deep groan. "Ugh... Whatever."

He was a dumbass to the point that it didn't seem to be humanly possible. Just who on earth was the two of you related to each other?

You gave up already. 

There was no point in explaining things to him when it was more than clear to you that he wasn't going to actually process the words falling from your lips. 

Everything you said went in one ear and out the other. 

A deep sigh left your lips. "What is even the point in doing this crap?" You mumbled under your breath. 

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

He ran his fingers through his hair as he watched you sulk in the corner and mumbling under your breath to yourself less than polite things that he wouldn't want to repeat. 

"Naru's in your room."

You immediately turned around, whipping your head to face him. It was more than enough to give him whiplash as he grabbed the back of his neck. 

"Why the hell didn't you tell me?!"

His eye twitched. " 'Cause you didn't ask me dumbass!"

"Don't call me a dumbass, dumbass!"

"The don't act like one you-"

Not wanting to deal with the conversation you turned on your heels and hurried on upstairs but not before being interrupted by him stopping you once again. 

"What about my food?!"

Your eye twitched. 

Rushing down a few steps you shot a sharp glare his way before lifting your arm back and throwing the bag in his face without any hesitation. 

"Ow! You little bra-"

"Whatever, no one cares!"

Despite the yells being directed towards you all you did was make your way upstairs, tuning out the less than pg words that fell from his lips.

The next few minutes consisted of the two of you studying for a good few minutes before you felt yourself drifting away from the conversation. 

Something kept popping into your head every single time you attempted to pay attention to the conversation.

_'Please don't come to my mind, at least not right now.'_

* * *

Childhood friends always get the short end of the stick, don't they?

Feelings are weird. 

They're gross, confusing, annoying, stressful and above all else, feelings are too idyllic. 

Every single time he thought about feelings that were romantic in nature he couldn't but feel confused and annoyed, it was because of romantic feelings that would make his older sister so emotional all the time.

He always told himself that he'd never want to deal with those feelings, they were just too annoying, after all, why would he cry over someone?

I mean, so what if he liked them?

At the end of the day, he's his own person, if he ever felt heartbroken because of someone he could easily just stop paying attention to them and forget about the feelings he had. 

What's so difficult about that?

"I'm certainly an idiot now, aren't I?"

"Yup."

His eye twitched at his friend's words. 

"Nice to know that you're as supportive as usual Aki."

Without even looking up from his book the black-haired teen's smile slipped away as his small smile was exchanged with a surprisingly melancholic expression that he didn't like bringing up. "Of course."

His shoulders stiffened. 

Taking a deep breath his small smile returned though this time it didn't reach his eyes in the slightest. "You're the biggest idiot I know.

Ignoring the sound of offense coming from the younger teen, Akihito continued with a small smile. "I'm just wondering what happened the Kenji that always said that if he ever felt like his heart was breaking because of someone he liked he'd simply forget about his feelings."

The brunette paused, his mouth making an 'o' shape for a few seconds before he closed his mouth. 

Scoffing, he laid back onto his bed, bringing an arm up to his face to cover his eyes as he tried his very best to hold back something that he was trying his best to keep back. 

It worked for a little while. 

His smile kept for a few seconds and he looked rather convincing for the most part but that was all only temporary, the trembling of his lips came soon after.

It was getting harder and harder to keep it in by the second. 

This feeling is really pathetic. 

"You know, it's really weird."

Akihito budged at his words. 

"I wish I could leave all these feelings behind but no matter how hard I try none of these feelings will die and the thing is-"

He could already feel his warm tears stream down his face as he tried his very best to swallow back the tears as he attempted to carry on. 

"I really," another paused. "I really don't want them to go away, I don't want to stop liking her."

The tears fall freely.

He just couldn't keep them at bay any longer.

* * *

You're not sure how to think about junior high. 

It was an experience that you can't truly say that you hated, if it wasn't for junior high then you wouldn't have met almost all of your current friends. 

Despite all the good things you got out of it, there was a part of you that wished almost everything that happened in junior high never happened. 

At least, you wouldn't have experienced heartbreak then, sure, you knew that almost everyone had to experience some type of heartbreak at least once in your life. 

Despite knowing that, it didn't make it hurt any less when it finally happened to you.

There wasn't really anything that could change that fact but that didn't mean it'd stop you from thinking about the way that you could've avoided everything. 

Heartbreak didn't hurt nearly as much as it did back then so at least there was something like that you could think about when you wanted to go back and needed to soften the blow that it had on you. 

It wasn't even the rejection that hurt the most, I mean, of course, being rejected by your first love but hurt but you could move on after a while, even if it took a long time. 

The thing about everything that hurt you the most was the fact of how he didn't believe anything that you said, he thought that you were just trying to make him feel better and the fact that he'd been rejected by a girl in his year just a little before your confession didn't help things. 

Now, why did you start thinking about this again in the first place? You may ask. 

Well, it was the "anniversary" of the day that you were rejected by your first ever love, Natsuya Kirishima. 

Just what was it about Natsuya Kirishima that made you fall for him? What was so impressive about him that caused you to look at him above everyone else around you. 

If you were being honest, you didn't have an answer for that and you probably never was going to have one. 

He was just someone that you had feelings for. He was an upperclassman that you looked up to and thought was cool and talented, he put his all into everything he did and never once backed down from anything he said, even if it got him into trouble more than once.

Just thinking about him would make you fall apart and even now it was still the same, you couldn't help but feel your cheeks burn a deep red at the thought of him. It was a belief to you that the moment he graduated from junior high or the moment you started high school that you'd forget about him but as anyone can see, that wasn't exactly the case. 

For the last five years, you couldn't help but think about how things were when the two of you were together, there was never a relationship that went beyond underclassman and upperclassman and maybe even friends but it still was something that you couldn't forget. 

That first love that you had experienced all those years ago was still something that you couldn't help but look back on with rose-coloured lens. 

It was something that you couldn't help but view as romantic but then always, without fault, you'd just think about how much of an idiot you were for everything thinking that anything would ever happen between the two of you. 

"[Y/N]?"

Blinking you looked up at the sound of the voice to see your friend, Naru looking at you, her brows furrowed in concern as she scooted in closer to you. 

You were confused but you didn't want to make her worried with the thoughts that you promised her you were going to try and leave in the past. 

Of course, it was obviously not going well as you would've hoped. 

Taking a deep breath you forced yourself to smile. You cringed at the mere feeling of the corners of your mouth curling up in the fakest of smiles. 

It was nowhere near your best smile.

The only thing on your face was a sad imitation of a comforting smile that even you knew wouldn't make anyone feel better. 

Despite your attempts, her frown was still there, if anything, it made things even worse it looked to you as is she was going to cry any second to now. At least, that's what it looked like from your blurring vision.

Wait, what was happening?

Just what was making it harder and harder for you to see?

You blinked.

Something warm started to run down your cheeks.

Huh...

Your fingers gently brushed against your burning cheeks. 

Ah.

So that's what it was, it's certainly not what you were expecting. 

Crying. 

You tried to scoff but you were choked back by tears as they streamed down your cheeks, the stream of tears became stronger and stronger as you opened your mouth. You couldn't hold it back any longer. 

A choked back cough. 

It really hurt and there was nothing that you could do about it. 

No matter how hard you tried to forget it and throw away your feelings it just wouldn't work, your feelings refused to die even if every waking moment with those feelings made you feel like dying. 

God, this was really getting bad. 

Tears kept streaming down your cheeks, nothing that you could do would stop it. 

You heard the brunette stand up and rush back to you, a box of tissues in hand. "I just can't get rid of these feelings but I have no idea where I'm supposed to put them."

All you could do now was let the tears stream down. 

What else could you do?

* * *

** _Iwatobi Junior High _ **

_That was where you found your first love and it ended just as soon as it ended. _

_It was a fleeting love that you constantly caused after no matter how hopeless you knew it was._

_Now, when was the first time that you realized that you liked him more than an upperclassman and friend and you saw him more as someone that could make your heart race without even trying. _

_He was someone that you couldn't help but feel drawn to, everything he said and did simply caused you to drop what you were doing to look at him and record everything he said and did. _

_It wasn't even just you, he was just the type of person that seemed to catch the attention of everyone around him whether or not it was intentional was something that would never know. _

_Natsuya Kirishima was a good first love to have. _

_There was never any bad memories you had of him throughout all the time you've known him, from the snippets of him that you were able to see through your older brother to the one year that you had him as an upperclassman. _

_He was absolutely perfect. _

_We're you looking at him from the lens of rose-coloured glasses?_

_Yes, absolutely and definitely. _

_It was no question about whether or not you looked back at him as being better than he actually was. You weren't innocent, you knew that he made mistakes as much as anyone but that wasn't what you remembered. _

_The person you thought of wasn't Natsuya Kirishima, captain of the swim club, the person that filled your every thought was Natsuya Kirishima, your upperclassman and first love. _

_You let out a sigh. _

_Thinking back onto it things were pretty stupid in hindsight, the number of things you did and all your efforts to seem like someone he liked was unbelievable. _

_"[N/N], did you cut your hair short?"_

_Grabbing the tips of your newly cut hair you flashed them a smile. "Yup, I thought it was a nice change of pace," you looked down at your feet with a soft smile that was slightly more genuine than the one before. "I just thought it'd be nice to see."_

_"Short hair definitely suits you."_

_"Really?"_

_The girls surrounding your table simply smiled at you nodded in confirmation causing a small pale pink blush to brush across your cheeks. "Thanks," you giggled. _

_While in the midst of your conversation you failed to notice less than subtle eavesdroppers sitting only a few feet away from you. _

_"[N/N] has definitely become a lot more social recently," Akihito watched you talk to the others in amusement before looking back at the brunette sitting across from him. "Hasn't she, Kenji?"_

_Said teen lifted his head from his hand, the bored expression that dressed his face disappeared as it transformed into a look of surprise and then subtle annoyance. "I guess..."_

_All he could think about was what happened just yesterday during clean up duty, what you had accidentally overheard while cleaning up around one of the third year classrooms._

* * *

_"Oi, Natsuya, do you have an ideal type?"_

_You paused right in front of the classroom, hiding away from the sight of anyone inside the nearly empty room. _

_It wasn't something that was too important to most people but to you, it was something that you were under the impression could change everything for you. _

_"Hm... I guess I like girls with short hair and friendly personalities."_

_You took a nervous gulp. "Short hair and friendly personalities..."_

_It was no secret that you weren't the most social of individuals, you tended to avoid talking to people when it wasn't completely necessary due to your overall awkwardness when talking to people. _

_But, if that was what Natsuya liked, then that was what you were going to be like. _

_Sure, it was a shallow reason for talking to people and getting out there more but people have shallow reasons for basically everything they did, it was no different for you. _

_If you had short hair and more friends then maybe, just maybe he'd like you._

* * *

_Kenji let out a deep sigh, leaning his cheek back into his hand as he continued to listen to you talk to your new-found friends who you decided were more interesting than him. _

_He cringed. _

_Jealously was really an ugly feeling to have, wasn't it?_

_"Kenji, is something wrong?"_

_He blinked. _

_Damn, did he really zone out again?_

_It seemed like he did that quite often when it came to thinking about you, whether it was intentional or not. _

_"This really sucks..." He mumbled under his breath. _

_"Did you say something, Ken?"_

_"No, it's nothing," a reluctant sigh left his lips as he glanced at you from the corner of his eye. "Yeah, it's nothing, don't worry about it." _

* * *

_Every time you saw him it felt as if you heartbeat increased tenfold, your face would burn and you would finally yourself unable to speak any words._

_The only thing that came out were mumbles and stuttered apologies as you avoided eye contact with him. _

_It wasn't like he ever noticed that whenever he was around you, he was always blunt and so cool when it came to everything that he did. _

_You were just to shy to ever break that gap between the two of you that you didn't even realize you had made for yourself, it was something that you didn't even think to do. _

_But, even if you did grow the courage to finally talk to him as something more he probably never viewed you as anything more than a little sister. _

_That was something that only became even more clear when he "rejected" your confession. _

_He didn't even think your confession was real, to him it just seemed as if you were trying to comfort him after his own heartbreak and that just made the feeling even worse._

_Nothing liked going your way, did it?_

* * *

You're not quite sure what happened after that, all you know that happened was that after a certain point of letting your tears stream down your cheeks something went off that told you to run away. 

All voices and noises around you seemed to fade into the background as the only thing that was on your mind was getting out of there and into someplace with fresh air. 

You took a deep breath as you took a few steps back and pushed yourself in the swing, staring distantly at the ground beneath you as you felt your heartbeat slow down. 

The thudding that had been beating against your ears seemed to slowly disappear with every swing that you took.

You inclined your head up, closing your eyes as you focused on the wind against your skin. "That was really stupid, wasn't it?" All you could do was ask yourself questions that you couldn't come up with answers for. 

**RING!**

Eyes widening, you immediately pulled your phone out of your pocket, almost dropping it before finally getting a steady grip. 

The ringing of your phone was almost like a blaring silence as it cut into the silence that you had gotten accustomed to in the past hour or so that you were by yourself. 

**'Shin Calling...'**

Of course, why were you surprised that he was calling?

You heaved out a deep sigh as you accepted the call and brought it up to your ear, closing your eyes as you prepared yourself for his voice. 

It was expected for him to call after you ran away out of nowhere though, to be honest considering the number of times something like that has happened you didn't expect for him to be too worried about your well being. 

Well, it's not like you were worried about your own well being all that much so it's was a bit much to expect something from him, but he always did say things that were annoying.

To the average person him "annoying" you with concern was something that they would find annoying, in fact, they would probably find it to be something that every older brother to be like. 

Crap. 

Just thinking about those thoughts were getting you anxious, you felt your chest tighten as your breathes shortened and everything around you seemed to close in on you. This was getting bad. 

Maybe it was a bad idea to pick up the phone. 

You should've just ignored his call and went on about your day and deal with his scolding when you finally returned home a good hour or two later.

His voice cut in. 

"Nothing's happened, you can calm down."

You shoulders dropped at the sound of his voice. You looked down at your feet not exactly quite sure what you were supposed to say in response. "Shin, do you think mom and dad loved me?"

There was a moment of hesitation on the other side. 

"Of course, mom and dad loved you, why wouldn't they?"

You furrowed your brows. 

Before you could say anything in response to his words you heard a mumbled series of curse words. _"Crap, why did I say that?"_

A deep sigh left your lips as you chest raised. "Do you think any of my friends actually like me? I mean, if they didn't I would be shocked, especially considering the way I act."

With the sound of rustling, you heard him let out a low sigh. "Of course, your friends definitely love you, no question about it."

He took a moment as you let those words sink in. "You can come home now, but..." 

More rustling. 

"I can get why you don't want to just yet and I don't have a problem with it, just... just remember to come back soon and not to stay out too late."

You held back the urge to let out the soft giggle you were holding back. "I promise."

If there was one thing you were grateful of when it came to Shintaro it was the fact that at least, he didn't force you to do anything. 

Sure, at first whenever things like this happened he'd always come after you without a moment's hesitation and while there was no ill will behind it at least he meant well with his actions. It was better than inaction. 

The next few minutes were filled with complete silence as you ignored any voices around you, most were the occasional passing voices of a few parents passing by the mostly abandoned park with their children. 

"[Y/N]?"

Huh?

Don't tell me-

Blinking slowly, you very hesitantly looked up from the ground and up to the voice on the side of you.

Your eye twitched. 

Of course. 

Now, why were you surprised in the slightest about what was happening in front of you? 

It's not like for the past year or so you'd seen them at the worst moments you were going through, it was basically mandatory for someone to show up. It would be weird if someone didn't appear in front of you. 

Raising your hand you gave him a small wave. "Hey, Makoto."

* * *

"So..."

"So..."

_'Crap, this is so awkward.'_

In your reluctance you slowly turned your head and looked at the taller male from the corner of your eye, your gaze lingered on him for a bit longer than it should've. 

Seeing as you luck was absolutely terrible it's safe to say that he caught you whilst doing it, feeling someone staring at him causing the both of you to immediately look away. 

The both of you stared into the distance with wide eyes, your cheeks starting to burn in embarrassment. 

Despite the both of you have stared at each other while the other wasn't look, neither of you had expected to get caught, well, at least not so soon at least. 

That's it. 

You couldn't handle the awkward silence any longer, it was getting too much for you and if neither of you was going to say something then you probably would've run away and made things even more awkward. "So, do you have a girlfriend yet or something like that?"

Huh?

Makoto stared at you with wide eyes, not quite believing what you were saying. It was something that while not surprising to hear from you, was something that he ever wanted to hear from you. 

You arched a brow. "Well, do you?"

"No!" 

He answered almost immediately, there was no way he was going to let you think that the simple question you asked out of boredom was correct. 

Leaning back into the swing you tightened your grip around the chains that held you up and looked him up and down. "So, a boyfriend or somethi-"

"Of course not!"

Before he could say anything else in his defense you absolutely lost it.

You burst into laughter, "I-I'm sorry Makoto, I don't want to be mean or anything, I jus-". You broke out into laughter once more, "I'm sorry, really." 

Another deep breath as you wiped away a tear. "Are you pouting?"

He simply turned away from you, making you stifle a giggle as you looked up at him and the saw the tips of his ears painted a glowing deep red. 

If there was anything that you were grateful for, then it definitely had to be Makoto's reactions to everything, from the most simple of things to complex subjects and even _explicit_ things. 

Your cheeks burned as you closed your eyes and smiled at him. "Y'know, you're really cute Mako, I don't know how I never noticed it before

"Huh?"

Despite hearing the words that you spoke as clear as day it didn't start to sink in for a few more seconds. His face slowly started to turn a deep red as his face glowed in embarrassment. 

Makoto crumbled. 

He turned away from you, covering the sides of his head as he mumbled things that you couldn't make out under his breath.

A final giggle. "Mhm, definitely cute."


	35. 𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑹𝑻𝒀 𝑻𝑾𝑶 | 𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑹𝑫 𝒀𝑬𝑨𝑹 𝑱𝑰𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑺

"𝙄'𝙈 𝙏𝙀𝙇𝙇𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙔𝙊𝙐, 𝙈𝙔 𝙆𝙄𝘿𝙎 𝘼𝙍𝙀 𝘿𝙀𝙁𝙄𝙉𝙄𝙏𝙀𝙇𝙔 𝙂𝙊𝙉𝙉𝘼 𝘽𝙀 𝙍𝙄𝘾𝙃 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙁𝘼𝙈𝙊𝙐𝙎."

The taller girl raised a brow as you comment, it was the look that she gave you whenever you did something that was stupid in her (usually right) opinion.

Despite the look she was giving you simply ignored her as you continued speaking, cementing your claim not wanting to give your idea up.

"I'm telling you Naru if I name my kids Mark Lee or something with a Tae in it they're guaranteed to be a popular pop idol, I mean, can you name one idol with the name Mark or Tae that isn't extremely popular?"

All she could stare at you with a look that simply asked: "Are you an idiot or something?"

Even if the two of you were friends it'd be a lie to say that there weren't moments in which she deeply regretted every talking to due to your less than intelligent subjects that you'd bring up. 

She wasn't even completely sure where this conversation topic came from, one minute the two of you were talking about being third years and what you were going to do after graduation and next thing you know you're talking about Press it.

She still couldn't understand how you got there, to naming all of your kids Mark Lee and Tae. 

The fact that you said all of these things with absolute confidence made her truly wonder if everything was all right up there or if you were as ditzy as you acted.

"-And because of that I guarantee you that my daughter, Jamie Kim is going to live out my fanfiction fantasy of becoming the 8th secret member of a boy kpop group and have all of them fall in love with her and my son Mark Lee will become a famous kpop idol with dance skills second only to Taemin."

Her eye twitched. 

Yup. 

She was sure this time. 

There was absolutely no doubt in her mind. 

You were a complete and absolute dumbass and the dumbest person that she's ever met and probably will ever meet and nothing's going to change that fact. 

She was almost 100% sure that she'd just view you as being a dumbass but it's not like you made your chances any better with some of the things you were saying. Plus, the fact you looked so confident while saying some things really didn't help things all that much. 

You blink. "Is there something wrong Naru?"

Naru's expression was drier than you ever thought was humanly possible at this point. "Do you do this on purpose or are you being for real?"

All you did was simply tilt your head. "Huh? What do you mean by that exactly?"

Of course, why was she surprised in the slightest that you had no idea what she meant by her words?

She should've expected something like this out of you. 

For someone so smart you were surprising, wait, nope, not surprisingly let me just rephrase that. For someone who was so book smart, it was both amusing and sad how stupid you really were.

She let out a deep breath as she brought an arm up grabbing your shoulder as she flashed you a tired smile. "Please never change."

"Huh? What are you talking ab-"

"Naru, [Y/N], hurry up!"

The two of you looked over your shoulders as the taller male before exchanging looks with each other. "Sorry," the two of you said in unison. 

"We'll be there right away!"

* * *

Your eye twitched. 

Of all the things they could do at the welcoming ceremony to encourage new students to join the swim club, they had to do that.

Why?

Just why?

It was moments like this that truly made you question if they ever used their brain outside of testing and maybe taking part in competitions every now and then. 

How on earth is wearing solely your swim trunks going to get people to join your club?

Sure, maybe it'd catch the attention of a few students that were into that type of fanservice but at the same time, it wouldn't really be enough to encourage them to join. Speaking from personal experience with your own clubs, fanservice doesn't work 90% of the time. 

Everybody else definitely had to be giving their... presentation a certain look especially due to the jarring difference between them and the... what was it? The film club or maybe it was something else...

You looked around with a blank expression as you saw all the less than impressed looks on everybody's faces. 

They were definitely not impressed in the slightest. 

Of all the things they could've done, why did they do this?

You were sure there were better things that they could've done to draw students in to join, after all, they did (almost) win at nationals. 

If anything could drive people to join it definitely had to be joining a team that was able to make it to nationals, especially with the team's than stellar track record before it's reformation by its current members. 

But, it seems as if said members of the club didn't really think about that and just went with Kou's first choice which of course had to be something that she was hoping to happen probably since she became the manager. 

Yup, you had no doubt about it. 

Kou definitely came up with the idea for them to do **"that"**, there was no way that any of the boys would come up with that idea themselves. Well, other than Nagisa of course but that was beside the point. 

The second-hand embarrassment was real. 

Ugh, if you could only scrub the sight in front of you from your head. 

All Naru could do was tilt her head at the scene unfolding in front of her. "I-Is this how recruitment for sports clubs go? I know that they're the swim club but was this really necessary?"

You're so, so, so glad that you were already the manager of the volleyball club long before the swim club was "refounded". 

There was no way you would be able to stand up there with **"that"** whole thing, if you were up there when that happened you're more than sure that you would probably overheat in a matter of seconds. 

"I- I don't think that's...." You let out a deep sigh as you continued staring up at the stage. "I don't think that's not how recruitments usually work Naru, I'm pretty sure there's just something wrong with them."

She turned her attention to the stage with a nervous smile on her lips. "At least seeing this is making me feel better about how we decided to do recruiting for the literature club this year."

"Ugh," you let out a groan as you ran your fingers through your hair. "I just can't wait to hear what Kenji has to say about this, he's gonna have a field day."

* * *

"Well, don't you guys look cute hard at work?"

"Is there a reason why you're here in the first place?" Haru looked up at with his usual blank expression though there was a small hint of annoyance. 

You giggled quietly as you flashed him a small smile, crouching down to look at him better. "I just wanted to give my moral support, especially after **"thing" **you did during the welcoming ceremony."

Makoto unintentionally flinched at the mere mention of the swim club's presentation during the welcoming ceremony. Though you could really blame him, if you were him you'd want to act as if it didn't happen in the first place. 

Now that you were looking at their reactions when it came to bringing up their presentation you could tell that they were all embarrassed except for Nagisa and Kou, even Haru showed some signs of embarrassment. 

You might've actually felt bad for them. 

Keyword. 

**Might've.**

It was moments that made you grateful about everything that you weren't the nicest person in the world as that meant nothing was stopping you from saying something that would get them flustered, though you were keeping your eye on Makoto. He was just an easy target for you and pretty much everyone that knew the brunette. 

Within less than a second you felt your lips turn upwards as a teasing grin snakes it's way to your lips. "Makoto, it was certainly... amusing to see you up on the stage."'

Makoto stiffened at your words as his face exploded into a glowing deep red that burned his cheeks. He turned away from you and began working even harder than he was before. 

A small laugh left your lips. 

Some things never changed with him, he was as still as easy to cluster as he usually was.

You could make a comment on how he was nice and he'd probably blush and get more flustered than he should've at your words though considering the way that you phrased things didn't really help things all that much. 

"Don't worry, I'm going, I just had a small break before club lit. club starts so I thought I'd pay you guys a little visit."

* * *

Brother's are annoying and that was just a fact that you had to deal with even if you wanted to pretend as if he didn't exist. 

Despite it being the weekend, a time when you usually did whatever you wanted such as rest from your usual busy schedule of working at the restaurant, school, clubs, etc. 

But it was clear to you that Shintaro didn't really care about your reasoning behind wanting to stay home considering the fact that he continued to go on with his plans even after you told him no. 

Your eye twitched as you tightened your grip on your arms. "This is so stupid, I don't even know why I'm even going to this stupid swimming thing in the first place. It's not like I even swim anymore..." You continued murmuring under your breath as you glared at the cars in front of you. 

The entire car ride has consisted of you ignoring your older brother and you definitely didn't have any plans of changing that even with how hard he was trying to start a conversation with you. 

His shoulders were stiff as he continued to drive in the awkward silence between the two of you, this definitely was not what he had expected when he "asked", though it was more of forcing, you to come with him. 

If you knew what he was thinking about at the current moment then your respect for him would've definitely gone down more than it already is. Well, that is if that was even possible considering the fact that the respect that you for him was 6 feet under.

Despite being a smart person he truly lacked the common sense to read the room and just realize when he was doing or saying something stupid. 

"So..."

The moment he opened his mouth to speak you whipped your head to face him and somehow narrowed your eyes even more than before, shooting him a sharp glare that made him shut his mouth for a second. 

If only that stopped him for sure. 

"Are you dating Haru or something?"

Huh?

At those words you dropped you felt all of your annoyance at his disappear into thin air, in fact, everything just disappeared. You could think of anything else as you repeated his words in your head. 

Did he really just say that?

You honestly couldn't believe he said that, sure, he was a lot of things but he definitely wasn't blunt. Well, he wasn't blunt to the level that question was. 

"Wha-"

Before you could even realize it your face was burning, your cheeks were glowing a deep red that didn't seem to be humanly possible. 

Of all the things he could say, he said that. 

It was certainly not what you had expected out of him. 

Hahahaha... Ah, you were screaming at the top of your lungs on the inside. 

You weren't even hiding it all that well if even at all with the look on your face, you probably would be actually screaming if it wasn't for you embarrassment overtaking you and stopping you from speaking saying a single word. 

The older of the two of you let his shoulders drop as he finally came to a red light. It seemed as if it's been ages since he's reached one. 

He looked at you from the corner of his eye and arched a brow at the look on your face. "Is there something wro-"

"What is the matter with you?!"

You were finally able to get something out, cutting his question off early, causing him to jump back slightly. He looked you up and down with a concerned look that quickly turned to a look that just radiated annoyance.

"Just what the hell is the matter with you?!"

"What's the matter with me? What do you think you're doing asking a question like that?"

All he could do was give you a blank stare. "Is that seriously your issue?" His eyes narrowed as he turned away from you and pursed his lips in a pout. "I was trying to talk to you earlier but all you did was ignore me so this is really all your fault."

"How is it my fault-"

Before you could even finish speaking you were cut off by the car suddenly moving as he ignored your complaints, not daring to even look back at you. 

Your eye twitched as you glared holes into his side. 

_'I'm going to kill him before the day is over, I guarantee that.'_

* * *

This was not how you were hoping to spend your free weekend. 

When you woke up late you were planning to stay in and get some studying and reading in before spending the next few hours just watching some low quality soap operas but those plans were so rudely ruined. 

Plus, the noisy conversations going on around you didn't really help you to feel any less annoyed with your current situation. 

Why couldn't you have an older sibling that didn't drag you around all the time?

You let out a deep sigh. 

Maybe this is just punishment for all the times you dragged him around without thinking about how he felt when the two of you were kids. 

Ugh. 

If you knew this would happen because of that you probably wouldn't have ever bothered him. 

The only good thing that has happened since arriving at the pool was Shin explaining why he made the decision to drag you there and even then, it wasn't all that good. In fact, it just made you all the more annoyed with him. 

As it turned out, his reasoning for coming was simply because he was bored. 

That was probably the dumbest explanation you've ever heard in your entire history of life. 

You leaned your head back as you let out yet another sigh, this letting it draw out for a good few more seconds. 

Having a professional swimmer compete in essentially an amateur competition made you feel a certain way but there was no way he'd understand what you meant. Plus, there was the fact that you weren't exactly interested in losing your ride home. 

Of course, as "fate" would have it you spotted a familiar group of people from the corner of your eye, instantly lifting your mood as you walked over to them with a smile. 

Anything was better than being surrounded by a group of kids that were dropped off by you by a few parents that didn't even wait to let you speak before leaving. 

"Yo."

"[N/N]? What are you doing here?" Nagisa asked as he tilted his head. 

At those words, you cringed slightly as you looked to the side. 

_'Of course, he definitely had to ask something like that...'_

You briefly looked over the railing and down at the pool to see your older brother. You almost immediately grimaced at the sight of him. 

Just seeing him was already upsetting you more than you thought was possible, but he was able to get all sorts of responses that most people couldn't get out of you. 

Shaking your head, you looked up at the taller teen with a small smile. "I came here with my older brother, he's visiting so he decided to take part since he doesn't really have much to do."

_'More like I was forced to come here since Shin's too scared to come to events like this by myself.'_

You, unfortunately, spent the next few hours there even after your older brother's race ended and he wouldn't budge no matter how much you complained to him. 

It wouldn't be far fetched to say that the two of you

* * *

"What is it this time Kisumi?"

You could practically see the pout he was giving you from the other side of the phone, he always seemed to act more "Kisumi" like whenever he was talking to you.

He always seemed to be able to know whenever there was something going on with you no matter how big or small whatever was bothering was. 

It was something that you were both thankful for and annoyed by. 

"So..."

You arched a brow as you listened to him drag out "so" for a bit longer than you would've wanted him to be. "So what?" 

Kisumi pursed his lips as he returned back to his pouting state. 

For someone that was "smart", you were certainly a bit slow when it came to picking certain things up, though, considering the subject it wouldn't be too far fetched to say you were acting naive on purpose. 

What was the subject that was making you act naive? You may ask. 

Ever since having a talk with Miss Amakata about what to do after high school you've been in a sort of funk at the slightest mention of graduating, forget about what you were going to do after it. 

A deep sigh left your lips. 

There really was no use in acting like you had no idea what he was referencing and if you acted as if you were naive for a little longer you're sure he probably would've gotten something out of you. 

You might as well just spill before he makes you do so himself. 

Just the thought of that made you cringe. Despite how positive he sounded when he finally coerced you into confessing he was able to make you annoyed with ease. 

"Kisumi, have you decided what you're going to do after high school?"

Hopefully, he had to say no, right?

I mean, you meant no offence by your words but Kisumi isn't exactly the type of the person that pops up into your head when you think about someone who has things planned after graduation. 

"Yup."

Oh. 

Well, looks like the few specks of hope that you had left was blown away by a gust of wind that you could just hear call you an idiot as it blew past. 

That certainly wounded your pride quite a bit. 

You didn't expect Kisumi of all people to have something planned already. Sure, he wasn't a terrible student but you still couldn't see him already having a plan. 

All that did was made you feel even worse about how you were dealing with things or more accurately put, how you were putting everything thing off. 

Every chance any of your teachers got to speak to you they'd always bring up graduation and the plans you had for after high school and every single time without question you'd avoid getting to deep into speaking about. You were constantly vague about everything you said.

_'Oh, I'm still looking over some college acceptance.'_

_'I might just stay in Iwatobi after all.'_

Almost every single time you gave your reasons you could help but let out a nervous laugh that you would always wave off much to the concern of all of your teachers. 

You took a deep breath as you opened up the gates to your house. "So, what are you gonna do after school always?"

The sound of rustling filled your eyes as you made your way inside, he was probably was making himself more comfortable as the two of you continued to talk.

Wasn't that swell. 

You held back a sigh. 

"I don't really have much planned," he laughed out, his voice making you smile slightly as you step inside. "But I am planning to do some work at my uncle's real estate business after graduation before starting college."

Even when it came to something like graduation and your futures he was still cool and nonchalant, it was as if nothing ever bothered him. 

Oh, how much you wished you were like that?

At least then you wouldn't be stressing yourself out as much as you have been as of late. 

Just the thought of graduation made you feel like pulling out your hair. 

Kisumi did have the type of personality that would get you annoyed beyond belief but at the same time, the air of nonchalance that he had was something you couldn't help but be jealous of. 

It was unbelievable to you how he almost never got stressed and the few times he was stressed you could barely notice a single thing that was off with him. 

Maybe Kisumi was a bit more responsible than you gave him credit for, he did always seem to realize when you were feeling down, even being able to pin down the source of your own mood before even you could. 

Of course, before you could even say anything Kisumi could already realize that there was something bugging you, though to be honest you weren't really hiding in all that much if at all this time. "Is there something wrong?" 

Before you could say anything you heard him let out an exasperated sigh. "You shouldn't bother pretending like nothing's wrong, you know you're a bad liar whenever someone points it out early."

All you could do was puff up your cheeks and pout as you glared distantly at the wall a few feet in front of you. 

For something that wasn't guilty of anything other than making sure the structure you were in would continue to stand you were staring at it as if it did something to hurt you. 

Ugh, you might as well just tell him already. 

What point was there in hiding it from him for any longer?

"I've just been worried about what I'm going to do after graduation, I've gotten a few acceptance letters but I'm not sure yet..."

Silence. 

Your eye twitched. 

Did he seriously just ask you about something only for him not to even say anything?

Even after spilling to him about what exactly was bothering he didn't say anything to you. Well, it wasn't really like you were expecting much from him but still. 

"Are you going to say something or no-"

"You and I can always get married after we graduate."

What?

You felt your cheeks start to burn and burn until you felt as if your cheeks were on fire. 

Of all the things he could've said, he said that...

Maybe you were wrong with being nicer to Kisumi and thinking of him as being responsible and all that stuff that you were now sure didn't fit him. 

"Kisumi!" You pulled your knees close to your chest, despite trying your very best to scold him it came off as you just raising your voice if anything. "Can you not joke about this?"

There a moment of silence on the end. 

"Who said I was joking?"

For a moment you froze, his voice was leagues more serious than you've ever heard him before. 

"I-"

"Don't worry, it was just a joke," he cut you off with the reveal of his words being a simple joke. 

Your eye twitched. "Can't you ever stop joking when it comes to things like this?"

He let out a soft sigh as he mumbled something that you couldn't make out through the white noise from your phone. "I could be joking, I could be telling the truth." 

_'It's always so hard to tell with him...'_

He chuckled lowly, "I'm sure you'll figure things out and if you don't just remember I'm one call away."

You cracked a warm smile at his words. 

_'Maybe he wasn't so bad-'_

"If you're ever feeling down we can always go another date."

Ah, there it was. 

The moment that always came whenever the two you talked to each other. 

Every time the two of you talked and Kisumi seemed to be mature and actually cool for once you always questioned why you haven't been thinking about him in that way and he always says something that makes you remember why you think about him in that way.

You let out a deep sigh as you leaned back with a warm smile. "Whatever you idiot, but thanks anyways."


	36. 𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑹𝑻𝒀 𝑻𝑯𝑹𝑬𝑬 | 𝑶𝑽𝑬𝑹𝑾𝑯𝑬𝑳𝑴𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑻𝑯𝑶𝑼𝑮𝑯𝑻𝑺 𝑨𝑹𝑬 𝑨𝑵𝑵𝑶𝒀𝑰𝑵𝑮

𝘿𝙀𝙎𝙋𝙄𝙏𝙀 𝙏𝙀𝙇𝙇𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙍𝙎𝙀𝙇𝙁 𝙄𝙏 𝙒𝘼𝙎 𝙎𝙏𝙐𝙋𝙄𝘿 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙎𝙏𝙄𝙇𝙇 𝘾𝙊𝙐𝙇𝘿𝙉'𝙏 𝙃𝙀𝙇𝙋 𝘽𝙐𝙏 𝙃𝘼𝙑𝙀 𝘽𝙐𝙏𝙏𝙀𝙍𝙁𝙇𝙄𝙀𝙎 𝙄𝙉 𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙍 𝙎𝙏𝙊𝙈𝘼𝘾𝙃.

When Sousuke told you that he was going to be transferring to Samezuka for his last year of high school you weren't sure how to put your feelings into words. 

There was still a part of you that couldn't get over the awkward gap between the two of you and while there was nothing wrong with friends with an ex considering the way things ended things were bound to be awkward, even if you two did makeup with each other. 

But, despite your hesitance, you couldn't help but feel somewhat excited over the news. 

Sure, it wasn't the best idea to be romantically interested in your ex that basically ghosted you without any explanation but it was clear to you that things happened and you could accept that. 

Even if it did annoy you to no end that he wasn't completely truthful with things. 

Though it's not like you really expected him to say all that much to you in the first place before anything happened between you he was private and that was true for both during and even in the current. 

Of all the things about him that he could have he just had to be someone that never spoke to anyone about his personal business unless he was forced to. 

You let out a sigh as you leaned back, letting our head hit the wall as you slowly ran your fingers through your hair. 

"[N/N]? Are you still there?" 

Sousuke's voice broke through the silence that filled your head and caused the thoughts going through your head to race as fast as they could. 

A sigh left your lips. 

"I'm fine, don't worry about it."

_'Sure, it's not like the whole reason I'm like this in the first place is because of you.' _

Despite your thoughts, you simply wave them away as you sat up straight and pulled your knees close to your chest and let a small smile snake it's way to your lips.

There really was no point in saying anything that would cause any arguments, now was there?

"Anyway, you're really transferring to Samezuka, huh?" You turned your gaze down to your feet as you opened your mouth to speak once again, "Is there a reason for it?"

Ugh, you just had to bring that up, didn't you?

It would've been impossible for you to not try and get things over with, there was a clear 

You could hear the sound of rustling on the other side as he, assumedly, sat himself up in a much more comfortable position that before. 

"Is there something wrong with that?"

You held back a tired groan and rubbed the back of your neck. 

There was a very clear reason as to why those words fell from your lips, you were sure that even if he wasn't completely sure about when you meant he got the general idea of what you meant. 

You pursed your lips as you felt your eyes narrow slightly. "I don't mean to be rude or anything, but anyone with half a brain knows that you probably transferred is because of Rin, am I right?"

He let out a soft sigh that you could barely make out. 

It'd be a lie to say that you were completely false but it'd also be a lie to say that was the whole truth. 

Sure, he wanted to reunite with Rin once again after not having any contact with him in so long but that was only part of the reason and he couldn't even say that was the main reason for transferring. 

When he met up with you again at the prefectural tournament after not seeing you for a good while after breaking things off he thought he was over you, but things like unresolved feelings couldn't really die that easily and that quickly. 

You were right that night you called him an idiot after you made in the impulsive decision to call him up after getting that stupid text from him. 

He really was an idiot for what he said, but he also was an idiot for what he didn't say to you.

It was stupid to say that he was going to get over you and never think about the feelings that he held in regards to you ever again. 

Even though he just now realized that there was a part of him that knew that you were right the moment he saw you once again and there was nothing that could change that.

Despite how he felt, it was clear that there was no way he could ever get things back to where they were with you before but there was still a part of him that felt the need to try and go back to things. 

"Hey? Sou, are you still there?"

"Sure, I guess you could say that Rin was part of the reason I decided to transfer."

Really everybody's an idiot when they fall in love. 

* * *

"Thanks for walking home with Makoto [Y/N]."

You flashed a smile at the older woman. "It was all my pleasure," turning your head to the side you looked at Makoto talking Ren and Ran from the corner of your eye. 

A teasing smirk snaked it's way to your lips as an idea popped into your head. 

The older woman already had ideas about the two of you that was as clear as day no matter how much Makoto had tried to hide it from you. 

Considering how much experience you had with having a mother figure constantly having ideas of you being romantically involved with certain people it was obvious to you. 

Dealing with being embarrassed every time she was around made it rather easy for you to read when people were getting the ideal. 

Plus, Makoto has always been quite easy to tease, it was as if he had not filter for any of his reactions. He was completely honest when it came to how he felt when he was getting flustered. 

Would you be doing Makoto a favour if you stopped making him flustered with every chance that you got? 

Of course, there was no question about it, you were completely sure that he would be extremely thankful if you stopped saying and doing things that flustered him to no end.

But he's too cute to stop you from doing the very most to get his flustered reactions out of him. 

You folded your arms behind your back as the smile on your lips changed from a simple one to that of teasing that probably wasn't going away anytime soon.

"It's the least I could do, I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to my boyf-"

Before you could even finish speaking you were interrupted by a hand from behind covering your mouth before quickly spinning you around to come face to face with the flustered culprit. 

Makoto's face was completely red, in fact, he, in general, was painted a glowing deep red from head to two as he looked away from you with shaky eyes. 

He opened his mouth to speak only for nothing to come out, his words seemed to dry upon his tongue the moment he set for them to leave. 

Now would be the best time to apologize for making him so nervous. 

That would be if you were actually feeling bad for his reason. 

Keyword. 

**If.**

All you did was grin up at him as craned your head up at him as you bounced on your toes. If it wasn't for the words and things you were doing someone would think you were just being cute. 

Makoto wasn't sure whether he found you to be cute or terrifying and he was starting to come to the conclusion that you were in fact both. 

It was moments like this that made me him truly question why he has had a crush on you for so long.

He never thought he'd ever had a crush on someone that seemed to find constant joy with teasing him every waking moment that they had with each other. 

"You know Makoto, I'm sure if I actually said we were dating it wouldn't be too far fetched for your mom to actually believe me."

Huh?

Somehow, his cheeks were able to burn even more as his cheeks began to burn an even deeper red at the words that fell from your lips. 

You just couldn't help but make him even more flustered when he was he already in a state where he could barely even speak above a whisper. 

Only you, huh?

"I mean, your mom already thinks we're dating, right?"

Ah...

Of course, that's what you meant. 

What else was he expecting you to mean by your words?

You blinked as you watched the look on his face falter, it was only for a split second but you were able to notice it almost immediately. 

"Something wrong?" You asked as you looked up at the taller teen. 

He simply flashed you a smile as the blush on his cheeks started to slowly dim until all that was left with a nearly translucent red that painted his cheeks. 

"It's nothing, don't worry about it."

Maybe next time.

* * *

The next day was rather uneventful but it did consist of you coming to a realization that you had been putting off for a good long while. 

Life after high school. 

Which most likely was college, something that you had putting thinking about for as long as you could remember. Even back in your last year of junior high when you were asked to think about it all, you'd do was put it off with the excuse that it's not the time to think about it yet. 

But now you can't really use that excuse any more. 

Well, you can't really use it anymore and expect to not hear any complaints or criticism. 

It was something that you had to deal with whether you liked it or not.

You let out a deep sigh as you buried your hands in your arms, not daring to even look up at the feeling of eyes burning holes into you with judgemental looks. 

"Look, if you want to say something just say it."

Your words were muffled by your arms but they were still clear enough for the two to make them out as they exchanged glances with each other before speaking up. 

"Are you dying or something? Because that's the way you're acting things are."

Kenji, the ever so sensitive gentlemen that he is. 

Your eye twitched at his words. 

He was the only person in the world that could make you mood change from questioning and depressed to frustrated and annoyed in only a matter of seconds. 

The two of you have been friends for so long so you would've thought that he'd be just a tiny bit sensitive to the way you felt about certain things. 

A turtle was probably more sympathetic to your feelings than he was. 

"Well, I'm fine Kenji, thanks for asking," you replied sharply before looking away from his, turning your attention to a group of students a few feet away from you. 

Narrowing your eyes, you glared daggers into the innocent teens who seemed to unintentionally irk you with how relaxed them seemed to be. 

Just how was it possible for them to be so relaxed when it came to filling out your forms for what you were going to do after high school?

Everyone has been making a big deal of it since you were in middle school and now that you were at the moment that it actually mattered it seemed as if no one really cared and you couldn't help but get upset. 

Feeling eyes burning holes into them the group of students that were freely talking amongst each other looked over their shoulders and jumped at the look you were giving them. 

_'Is she going to send her crazy fans after us?!'_

The small group looked like a pack of shaking chihuahuas just at the look you were giving them, for someone that looked like you, you were surprisingly intimidating when you wanted to be. 

If you were actually aware of what you were doing at the moment you probably would've felt bad and apologized plus you most likely would've apologized. 

Staring was exactly a proper show of manners.

The fact that you were randomly glaring at a group of students that you've barely spoken to your entire high school experience with little to no reason was weird to even you. 

A shame that you were too stuck in your thoughts to even realize what you were doing to the poor shaking students. 

Kenji and Akihito looked at you in disbelief, their eyes twitching as you continued to glare at the teens without any plans to stop any time soon. 

Letting out a sigh the brunette ran his hand through his hair before roughly grabbing onto his taller friend's hand as he pulled him along to your seat only a few feet away. 

You were really bothered by things, even if the way you showed it didn't really get that across as well as you would've hoped. 

"Sorry about that guys."

Blinking slowly, you looked up, your eyes slowly travelling down from his torso up until your eyes fell on the side of his face. 

Crap. 

You were doing it again. 

Ugh. 

It seemed as if this was happening every single day with how often you found yourself making others the unintentional target of your built-up stress. 

"So, it seems like you're not doing as well as you said you were, huh?"

Akihito deadpanned. 

"Thanks for pointing out the news discovery genius."

"What? I was just saying-"

Despite the shocked look on his friend's face Akihito simply ignored him as he turned his attention away from him and back at you. 

"I know you're really stressed out about college but you should worry about it too much, if you do that you're just going to make yourself more and more worried."

A sigh left your lips as you looked back down at your hands, your fingers wrapping around each other as they began to pull and twist each other. 

He was right.

Stressing yourself out by just thinking about college and more specifically all the bad things that could happen if you didn't have everything planned was just going to tire you out in the long run, 

You've barely been thinking about it for a few weeks and it already felt like you've been mulling over it for months on months. 

Kenji's jokes about grey hairs popping up wouldn't even be too shocking to hear considering how much you've been stressing yourself out. 

It would be surprising if there wasn't any signs of stress showing up already. 

Everything was more stressful than you've ever thought it'd be and due to that you really did want to listen to Akihito's advice and not worry too much but it was simply something you couldn't do. 

Whether you liked it or not college was something that was in the very near future that you had to accept. 

Sure, it sucked to just think about it but it was just something that existed and you had to go through if you wanted to have a somewhat decent life. 

You gave out a low sigh. 

<s>This really sucks.</s>

Despite your thoughts you simply took a deep breath and looked up at the two, flashing your usual smile at them, the same one that you'd give anyone you meant. 

"Of course, I'll try not to."

<s>Kenji looked at you with a tired expression.</s>

<s>You've always been such a bad liar.</s>

* * *

Even when you were just walking around all you could hear was people whispering under their breaths about you, it was flattering in a sense but it wasn't something that you were the biggest fan of. 

Most people would say hearing people whisper to others that they thought you were cool or pretty was nice and all things like that but you couldn't help but somewhat hurt. 

Couldn't they at least say something to your face?

What's the point of whispering your thoughts in the presence of the person that was the very topic of your conversation if you were never going to confront them about anything. 

It was something that you couldn't understand. 

<s>God, you just couldn't stop lying today, could you?</s>

<s>First, Kenji and Akihito and secondly, to yourself.</s>

Your [E/C] eyes roamed the hallways, sweeping over groups of students that crowded the hallway of the second year classrooms. 

Were you getting closer?

Aha!

There it was. 

Standing a few feet away from you, there it was. 

After a good few minutes of going through some of the second year classrooms and embarrassing yourself in front of your underclassman, you finally found the classroom of the younger teen. 

Hopefully, he was actually there. 

You didn't want to make a fool out of yourself once again.

"Rei!"

Said teen looked over his shoulder at the sound of your voice. 

His cheeks were painted with a paint pink hue as his shoulder stiffened as he suddenly realized the eyes that fell on the two of you. 

"Y-Yes?"

Oh...

A stutter.

He held back letting out a sigh. 

Well, that certainly had to be a first for him. 

"Do you know anyone that hasn't joined a club yet?"

To be it bluntly, Rei was really your last resort when it came to looking for someone to recruit when it came to the volleyball club in regards to both the players and a manager. 

You'd think that being popular would help you quite a bit and make recruiting people a lot easier than it would if you weren't, right?

Well, it seemed as if that wasn't really the case in reality. 

Despite your popularity and numerous attempts to recruit you couldn't get a single person to even do as much as follow up with you about the club. 

At first, they were more than free to talk to you and entertain your offer but it was as if the moment you even brought up actually joining they seemed to have a multitude of plans popping up out of nowhere. 

That's when Rei popped into your mind. 

Who else could you ask but him?'

Yup, that's right. 

No one. 

Sure, Rei wasn't exactly the first person that popped up into your head when you were thinking about people that knew a good amount of people. 

Sure, he was decently popular with girls but that popularity really wavered whenever he opened his mouth to speak.

To say your friends were less than confident with your idea to ask Rei for help would be a major understatement, they were more onboard with you giving up rather than going to him. 

"Hm..." Rei thought hummed softly under his breath as he racked his brain for any first and second years that didn't happen to already be in a club. 

Aha!

Despite lacking quite a bit in the area of interaction there was someone that he could think of when it came to an underclassman that wasn't in a club yet.

"I have a friend that's in class 1-B that still hasn't picked a club she wants to join yet, maybe you could ask her?"

Your lips curled up into a smile as you looked up at the younger teen in excitement and stars in your eyes, it would be an understatement to say you were overjoyed. 

There wasn't any guarantee that you were going to get someone that wanted to even consider joining a sports club but it still was a start. 

Without even thinking you grabbed both of his hands and shook them quickly with excitement that matched the look on your face. "Thank you so much, Rei!"

He was barely able to say anything that wasn't mumbled words as he looked down at your hands around his, a deep red hue painting his cheeks. 

This is not what he was expecting to happen. 

"Right-"

"[Y/N]! Hurry up, clubs about to start!"

At the sound of the voice, you whipped your head to look over your shoulder, eyes falling onto the familiar short-haired brunette. 

"Sorry about that Naru," you apologized, waving back to her with a small smile dressing your lip. "I'm coming, just give me a minute."

Looking back at the blue-haired teen you flashed him a smile before turning away with a small wave as you made your way over to the taller girl, ignoring the whispers and stares directed towards you all the while. 

All you did was smile up at the taller girl, your excitement too much for you to notice the lingering gaze on your figure not daring to leave until you disappeared around the corner. 

"You're certainly in a better mood than you were earlier."

Earlier all you were doing was mopping about how terribly your attempts to recruit members failed but it seemed as if just talking with Rei was able to lift your mood.

You simply gave a nod, humming out, "I'm sure things might actually work out a lot better than I thought it would."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.
> 
> Imagine not simping over Sousuke and Makoto.
> 
> There were some nice Sousuke and Makoto moments in here which they absolutely deserve because they are my top boys plus there was also some nice Rei moments with his cute crush on MC. 
> 
> Also, don't mind the self-projection with the MC in regards to college, I'm kinda having a midlife crisis but I'm in my last year of high school instead. 
> 
> Anyway, I'm gonna plug my discord once again because idk, it's kinda dead rn and... I don't know where I was going with this because I literally have no other reason for plugging it again.


	37. 𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑹𝑻𝒀 𝑭𝑶𝑼𝑹 | 𝑺𝑻𝑼𝑩𝑩𝑶𝑹𝑵 𝑰𝑫𝑰𝑶𝑻𝑺 𝑨𝑳𝑾𝑨𝒀𝑺 𝑴𝑨𝑲𝑬 𝑴𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑲𝑬𝑺

𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙒𝙀𝙍𝙀 𝘼 𝘽𝙄𝙏 𝙈𝙊𝙍𝙀 𝙀𝙓𝘾𝙄𝙏𝙀𝘿 𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙉 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙎𝙃𝙊𝙐𝙇𝘿'𝙑𝙀 𝘽𝙀𝙀𝙉.

Though if you being honest it wasn't like it wasn't something that wouldn't have been expected considering the fact you've been looking for people since your second year without much success.

All you needed to find was one person to sign onto the club as the manager, considering the second and first years... less than reliable personalities you didn't really want to picture them without a manager taking care of them and keeping them in check. 

Despite your desperation you did have standards and didn't expect the person that Rei recommended to you would be so... let's just say off-put by your suggestion. 

It was almost as if she was disgusted by the mere idea of joining a sports club of all thing. 

She definitely seemed to be... interesting and it was starting to make sense as to why she wasn't in any clubs yet. It was extremely suspicious as to why a first-year wasn't recruited for a club and club members weren't pushovers either, they were a bit too intense when school started and they started shoving application forms into first year's faces. 

You had to be honest, she was a lot more intense than you ever expected her to be, especially for a first-year. 

When you first said hello to her she seemed to be a polite girl albeit a bit shy as she turned away from you but the moment you quit beating around the bush she just came out. 

People can be blunt but it was getting scary with how blunt she was being. 

Though, considering your "position" having someone be so nonchalant and blunt with you was definitely not something that you were completely used to. 

With your lips twitching, the smile on your lips threatened to fall as it shook with every word that fell from her lips. 

It was as if she didn't understand what everything she was saying meant or at least how rude she was really coming across, it was as if she thought she politely declined you.

You didn't want to but you, unfortunately, had to. 

A deep sigh left your lips. 

You didn't have much time to look for anyone else and she was your last hope. 

Raising a fist to your chest you shook your head slightly, clearing it of any negative thoughts that was there in the first place, this was your last chance. 

Even if you weren't completely optimistic with your chances you had to get her to join, even if it was only for a short trial membership. 

You were sure that even if you were given less than a day with her you would be able to convince her to join. 

Maybe Naru was right when she talked about you being a bit delusional sometimes, your line of thinking really made everyone around you wonder sometimes. 

You took a deep breath and stood up straight as you reached over to the taller girl, grabbing her shoulders with a tight grasp. 

Shocked, she looked at you with wide eyes as she tilted her head in confusion. 

The sparkles in your eyes didn't really help her situation as all it did was make everything much more confusing than it already was.

"[Y/N]-senpa-"

"FumiFumi!"

Her shoulder dropped at the sudden nickname that left your lips. 

"F-FumiFumi?" She asked as she tilted her head to the side, arching a brow at you as she gave you a questioning look that went unnoticed by you.

She didn't quite understand what was exactly happening. 

When you walked up to her she didn't expect for you to eventually call her by a random nickname that she had never heard as you grabbed her shoulders in a grip that was a lot stronger than she had ever expected to come from someone that looked like you. 

"I have an idea?"

"And that is...?"

You chuckled softly which only made her even more concerned as to what was on your mind and looked back up at her, flashing her a scheming smirk.

Oh boy...

Nothing you were doing was really sating any of her concerns, in fact, it was making her even more worried if anything.

"Yes?" She asked, completely defeated. 

There really wasn't a point in trying to fight back against your word any more, it would just make things even more difficult. 

She sighed. 

_'Rei really chose a weird person to have a crush, huh?'_

"Can you join the volleyball club as a trial member?"

Her eye twitched at the words that came out of your mouth, it was something that you had said multiple times in the few minutes the two of you had been talking. 

"I already told you I'm not interested."

The younger girl turned away from you, her cheeks puffing up as she pouted. 

None of the clubs at school interested her and having someone popular and pretty wasn't really going to change her mind about that. 

Almost immediately, you ran in front of her, causing her to jump at the mere sight of you. "Ah!"

"FumiFumi, you don't have to join for real for real, you just have to attend the practice for the day and then you'll never have to ever think about it ever again, I promise." You pleaded to her as you clapped your hands together. 

The black-haired girl glanced back at you, her eyes lingering on you before she let out a defeated sigh, her shoulders dropping as she let her hands fall to her sides. "Fine."

"Really?" 

You could not believe what you were hearing as you looked up at the younger girl with stars in your eyes, you couldn't believe how excited you were at her less than enthusiastic words. 

She gave a nod and opened her mouth to confirm her words but she was unfortunately cut off by your overwhelming excitement. 

"Thank you so much!" Without even thinking you grabbed both of her hands, shaking them quicker than you ever thought was possible. 

You turned on your heels and waved goodbye to her with a wide smile dressing your lips. "See you at practice after school FumiFumi!"

She watched your figure as it became smaller and smaller into the distance, running her hand through her hair as you disappeared around the corner. 

"I really need to talk to Rei about his tastes in girls."

* * *

"A little birdie told me that you met up with Kisumi during the break."

Kenji looked at you with a blank stare, his expression had little to no emotion but there was a strange amount of disappointment in it. 

Your jaw dropped at the words that fell from his lips. 

It certainly what you were expecting to hear from him while you were just peacefully eating lunch. He just randomly put down his drinks and said those words like it wasn't a big deal. 

He certainly didn't think it was that big of a deal as he went back to eating his lunch, not caring about your reaction or the look on your face. 

Akihito gave you an apologetic look as he kicked at the older male from underneath the table, shooting him a subtle glare as the brunette looked up in shock, ready to spew a multitude of words that don't fit in a school environment. 

With narrowed eyes, he said all that he needed to say as the two boys talked to each other with glares until one of them gave up. 

_"Ugh, just what the hell was that for?!"_

_"It was for being a complete idiot."_

_"How am I being an idiot?!"_

_"You just are."_

_"Wha-"_

Kicking him once again, this time with much more force than before he nodded over to you. 

There you were, face burning a deep red to the point of almost glowing as you dropped everything in your hands. You tried to pick them up but they fell out of your hands almost immediately. 

Kenji gave you a blank stare. 

It was almost sad how badly you reacted to anything that was romantic in nature, considering the fact that you were the only person in their friend group to ever be in a romantic relationship you'd think you wouldn't react that badly. 

He sighed. 

Of course, you had to be the most easily flustered person in your small friend group, your face turning red at someone even calling you cute. 

Not wanting to really say anything he turned back but was meant by the sight of Akihito giving him a deadpanned stare that he wasn't going to let up anytime soon. 

He always made things difficult for him. 

It really sucked having childhood friends that could make you do whatever they wanted you to do. 

Grabbing the back of his neck, Kenji turned to you after much reluctance. "I'm sorry about mentioning it I jus-"

You cut off the brunette and ignored the offended look he was giving you. 

He was just about to apologize for what he said and did and all you could do was interrupt him and not even acknowledge the fact that he did the difficult act of owning up to his mistake. 

Sure, it was a bit more of a big deal in his own head as it was something that he almost never did but it still was big, well, to some people it was. 

Did he know who the people were?

Well, not really but they were out there. 

"Can you please tell me who exactly is this **'little birdie' **that gave you this information about me and Kisumi meeting up during the break?" Your voice was cold and sent chills down his spine. 

You were always like this when it came to someone mentioning knowing about something you did with Kisumi and Sousuke. It was something you were bit standoffish about. 

Kenji turned away. 

The look on your face definitely turned him off from wanting to even say something simple but he was more than sure that you were going to get him to spill about something. 

No!

He couldn't do that. 

There was no way he could betray the honestly extremely shaky trust he had regarding exchanging information about you that he had. 

But, then again his "little birdie" also had a bit of a habit of spilling the things he knew to you whenever you did as much as asked. 

It would be well deserved if he just told you. 

A smirk snaked it's way to his lips as he turned back to you. 

The black-haired teen who was watching everything go down felt his eye twitched at the sudden mood change from the hesitant to smug. 

Kenji waved a finger as the image of a familiar older male popped up into his head. 

He totally deserved this, no question about it. 

"Shin told me about it!" He revealed maybe a bit too excited and cheerful than he really should've. "I stopped by the restaurant while he was there and he told me that Kisumi came over and you kicked him out of the house when he came by."

The brunette let out a relieved sigh.

Just the fact that he seemed relieved at the fact he essentially served the older male his death sentence by telling you the truth of what happened was a bit concerning. 

Your eye twitched. 

Why weren't you surprised?

He always seemed to do this and he never stopped no matter how many arguments the two of you got into, sure, you did do similar things quite a bit with telling your aunt about the things he did but that didn't matter. 

It wasn't the point even if it was obvious how much of a hypocrite you were being. 

The only defence that you had was rather convincing, well, it was convincing in your head at the very least.

And what was that defence? You might ask. 

He's Shintaro so it makes a lot more sense for you to tell your aunt about the things he said and did., 

Though you're sure if you said that out loud it wouldn't be nearly as convincing to you and anyone else for that matter. 

"Is that so?"

Akihito simply tilted his head. "Is there something wrong [N/N]?"

Of course, he knew something was wrong but he definitely wasn't interested in being an idiot and possibly be on the receiving on the end of your anger. 

After all, he wasn't a complete idiot like your older brother and Kenji. 

Kenjin glanced over to the dark-haired teen who was simply smiling innocently as he talked to you as if nothing wrong happened. 

_'I'm not sure why but I feel strangely insulted right now.'_

"By the way [N/N], did you know that Kenji wanted to talk to you about con-"

His eyes widened to the size saucers as his hand flew to his friend's mouth, covering it with a grasp that was unbelievably tight and strong. 

The two boys stared each other down, though the look that Kenji was giving him was considerably more... intense than the younger teen's. 

You arched a brow at him. 

There was something going on with them. Of course, they were always a bit weird but as of late they've been acting strangely with Kenji constantly stopping Akihito from speaking. 

"What were you say-"

"Converse!"

Huh?

You honestly had no idea what was going on, all you wanted was a simple explanation as to what he meant and all you got was Kenji yelling the word converse. 

His face burned a bright red as he processed what he just did. "I need to buy new converse shoes that is." The awkward laughter just made you even more confused. 

"I thought you hated converse shoes?" You asked as you tilted your head to the side in confusion. 

Did he really understand any of the things that he was saying or were you just remembering certain things wrongly?

"Um..."

Kenji froze. 

He was caught in his own lie and it wasn't even a good one at that if he was going to get caught lying then he was hoping it would be a good one. 

Taking a deep breath he stood up and immediately began packing up his things, ignoring the looks you and Akihito were giving him as he felt more and more awkward as each second pass by. 

"Aki and I actually promised Mrs. Tamura that we would help her move some paperwork to the office!"

He whipped his head to look at said teen so quickly that it could've given anyone whiplash, just the sight of it made your neck hurt. 

"Isn't that right Aki!"

His eye twitched as he gave a surprisingly passive-aggressive smile, flying as many insults as humanly possible on the inside of his head. 

"Since when did-"

The taller older teen didn't give the younger boy any time to speak when he grabbed him, pulling him up almost immediately and pushing his bag into his hands. 

You arched a brow. 

There was definitely something weird going on, you were sure of it now. 

As of recently, they've been acting a lot more different than usual with Aki being a lot more teasing in regards to Kenji and Kenji has been a lot more nervous about just random things lately. 

You narrowed your eyes at them as you puffed your cheeks up.

"What is the matter with you guys?" You asked as you leaned forward, letting your chin rest in your palm as you looked at them with a lazy but annoyed stare. 

They both froze. 

Maybe they were being a bit more obvious than they really intended, though Kenji shouldn't really be all that surprised considering how obvious he's been lately. 

Your eye twitched. 

One would think that confronting them about their obviously weird behaviour would cause them to finally spill and tell you what was bothering them, right?

Wrong. 

Dead wrong. 

All you did was make them even more nervous about talking to you plus the fact that you're essentially the reason they've been acting weird didn't really help matters. 

You groaned at their reactions.

They really were stubborn idiot, even when they were caught they wouldn't give up the truth of the situation. 

A sigh left your lips as you let your hands fall to your lap, looking up at the two of them with a concerned look on your face. "You don't have to tell me but-"

Without even giving a chance to finish you were cut off by an awkward shout that caused everyone else in the classroom to stop what they were doing and give their attention to the sudden shout. 

"Talk to you later [Y/N]!" 

You froze as you suddenly felt all eyes turn to you. 

Huh?

You immediately looked up and was shocked to see the two of them already at the door of the room, Kenji waving back at you with a nervous smile as Akihito had an expression that could only be described as a mixture of depressed and defeated. 

All you could do at that moment was awkwardly smile as you waved back at them, bowing your head slightly as you apologized for the interruption before everyone quickly returned to their lunch and conversations.

You sighed.

Well, that just happened.

It sure wasn't what you were expecting to happen but it happened.

You blinked slowly as you began to actually think about everything that just happened from Akihito speaking and getting cut off by Kenji to them suddenly leaving you alone to finish lunch by yourself.

"Just what the hell was that about?"

* * *

Kenji pulled onto the dark-haired teen's arm, ignoring the stares he was receiving from students that were just confused as to why he looked like he was kidnapping someone. 

But he could care less about the stares. 

All he could think about was how annoyed he was with his friend and what he was going to do to him when the two of them were alone. 

The taller teen could only let himself be dragged as he began to reflect on his life and what exactly he did to be the victim of this treatment, especially when all he was trying to do was help. 

It wasn't his fault that his two best friends were idiots that weren't good with feelings. It was truly heartbreaking the treatment he received just for trying to help. 

Despite his kindness, he was betrayed by insults and getting dragged away before he could truly anything to actually help the two of you. 

Plus, it wasn't as if anything he said was unwarranted. 

It was Kenji himself who asked for help when it came to you in the first place, he wasn't exactly sure what he was expecting when he asked him for help in the first place. 

The vice-captain wasn't given any more time to think to himself about the disrespect when he was receiving when he was pushed, though the more accurate term would be kicked, into an empty room. 

He felt his eye twitched as he heard the door behind him slam shut. 

Sure, it was rude that he was dragged and then kicked into a random room but there was really no need for him to slam the door shut. 

If anything that would've probably gotten even more attention. 

Letting out a deep sigh, the black-haired teen ran a hand through his hair before turning on his heels to face the brunette who he was more than a little annoyed with. 

"Is there a problem?" He asked. 

Kenji could only look at the taller male in shock, it was surprising that he didn't understand what was wrong with what he was trying to do. 

"What do you mean 'is there a problem?'?!" 

All he did was arch a brow and shrug in response. 

"I don't really know what I did wrong."

"You can't just tell her stuff like that!"

Despite being friends he couldn't help but get annoyed, it wasn't nearly as easy as he thought it was. He couldn't just tell you that he liked you and he's had a crush on you for six years. 

Sure, it was simple for someone to flat out to tell someone that they liked them but putting it into action, that was something that almost everything thought of as an impossible task. 

A deep sigh. 

Leaning back onto a table Akihito flashed the brunette a small smile. "Fine, I won't tell her stuff like that anymore."

Kenji sighed in relief. "Thank you."

"But.."

He looked up in surprise. 

"If you don't mind me asking, when do you plan to come clean?"

Oh...

That was something that he wanted to avoid thinking about for as long as he could, but it seemed as if Akihito wasn't going to let him do that. 

It was something that made him nervous whenever he thought about it. 

A deep silence fell over the two. 

He let out a soft sigh as he ran a hand through his hair, looking away from the younger teen as a tired expression made it's way to his face. 

"I'm not sure anymore."

* * *

"Rin, do you know if there's something going on with Rei?"

"Huh?"

Even though Rei told you to not be worried about him, hearing about how weird his recent behaviour has been through Nagisa and the others you couldn't help but be concerned. 

Rei did tend to be the on the eccentric side but not to the point of worrying people. 

Though, if you were being honest you weren't exactly sure why you decided to go to Rin of all people regarding the question of how Rei was doing. 

You didn't really see yourself an answer that would've really helped much but it was worth a shot, plus, it wasn't like you had many other options left. 

Everyone else didn't have any idea what was going on with him and he wouldn't say anything himself. 

"Yeah," you nodded, "He's been acting a little weird lately and everyone's a bit concerned about him."

A rustling sound could be heard on the other side along with a deep sigh. "Well, I have been helping him expand him expertise in swimming if that's something."

Was that really it?

You thought of it was an odd reason but now that you were thinking more and more about who Rei was as a person it wasn't too hard to believe that he would hide something like that. 

It was probably a surprise for the others. 

Leaning back you chuckled softly under your breath. 

"Is there something wrong?" Rin asked. 

Despite how acted on the outside he really was a softie when it came down to things, no matter how hard he tried to hide the fact it was obvious and anyone that really looked at him. 

"Nope, it's nothing."

You let out some more giggles that you attempted to stifle with a hand over your mouth. "It's just, you care a lot more than you let on, don't you?"

Even though the phone you could already feel his face burn a deep red. 

"Shut up already, I was just doing him a favour is all."

"Of course, by the way, Rin..."

You brought your knees close to your chest and felt your cheeks start to burn as you looked down to your hand grasping tightly onto your sheets. 

"Hm..."

"Is Sousuke there? He hasn't been answering my calls or my texts lately-"

Despite having left off on good terms since the two of you last spoke lately all of your calls and texts have been ignored, it wasn't as if he didn't see any of your messages. 

You've been stalking his social media more than usual and he posted his one ever three months posts not too long ago and if that wasn't enough proof, all of your messages have been left on read. 

It was confusing. 

Did you do something to get him upset?

You were under the impression that the two of you were good with each other though considering the way Sousuke is with how he hides almost everything it wouldn't be surprising if he was dealing with something that he didn't even want to bother to tell you about even with all of your concern. 

"Since when have you and Sousuke known each other?"

You blinked. 

Huh?

That wasn't what you expected to hear?

Did he know about the relationship between you and Sousuke?

You could've sworn that you mentioned at least knowing of Sousuke to Rin while the two of you were hanging out a little while ago. 

If you didn't tell him you could've sworn that Sousuke would've told him, right?

There were best friends, after all, you would think that he would tell him that he and you dated for a year, right?

Ah, of course. 

It was Sousuke. 

You shouldn't have been all that surprised that Sousuke didn't say anything to Rin about things and if you had to guess that might have to do with the reasoning behind him not talking to you as of late. 

A groan left your lips as you pushed back against the wall, leaning your head against the wall as it made a small thud that you ignored, the sound of it was covered with the sound of rustling as you pulled a blanket around you. 

"Rin..."

You took a deep breath. 

"I need to talk to you about something."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still have a discord :D  
https://discord.com/invite/kg5d4Ja


	38. 𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑹𝑻𝒀 𝑭𝑰𝑽𝑬 | 𝑾𝑯𝑨𝑻 𝑻𝑶 𝑺𝑨𝒀

𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝘼𝙇𝙒𝘼𝙔𝙎 𝘼𝙑𝙊𝙄𝘿𝙀𝘿 𝘾𝙊𝙉𝙁𝙍𝙊𝙉𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙍 𝙋𝙍𝙊𝘽𝙇𝙀𝙈𝙎 𝙃𝙀𝘼𝘿 𝙊𝙉.

It was the easiest thing to do, you never had to deal with confrontation and unknown possibilities even if it wasn't the best to ignore problems that were definitely going to come back for you in the end. 

But you didn't really care about it. 

Despite knowing that running away from things only caused them to come back even harder than they did for from first-hand experience you still did it. 

A sigh left your lips as you glanced down at the paper on your desk. 

It was an application you were supposed to turn into Miss Amakata about what were your plans after high school. 

One would think that you of all people would be able to fill it out quickly and with a perfect plan with more than enough backup plans in case your initial plans fell through. 

After all, you're the class representative that's able to juggle being part of two clubs and working a job that was rather demanding for just a normal high school student. 

Maybe that was why you were stressed out with everything. 

It was already difficult for quote-unquote normal teenagers to deal with thinking about what they wanted to after school but with all of your responsibilities you were barely given enough time to breathe, forget thinking about the future. 

You said that you didn't care about what anyone else thought about you but you still couldn't but think you were disappointing everyone around you as you struggled to think of the future. 

Why did you have to think about it?

You did more than enough, right?

So what was even the point in having everyone put you up on this pedestal that you never asked for?

The sound of your pencil scribbling all over your paper filled your ears as you narrowed your eyes at the formerly clean paper becoming littered with grey scratching everything out. 

Plus, everything that has been happening with Sousuke's behaviour wasn't exactly making you feel any better about things. 

You let out a deep sigh as you leaned back into your chair, letting the pencil you were twirling in between your fingers fall down onto your desk in front of you. 

Everyone was too busy filling out their forms to even pay attention to you for even just a second. 

You guessed that was one good thing out of it, at least due to everyone worrying about their futures they didn't have enough time to stare at anyone that they found "interesting". 

There was nothing you could think about as you glanced around the room, freezing as you locked eyes with a set of familiar brown ones. 

Almost immediately after locking eyes with you, Kenji tore away from you, turning his attention back to the paper down on his desk, his face burning at the thought of you catching him.

You simply arched a brow before sighing and returning to staring down at your work with a tired look on your face.

He sighed in relief as he leaned back into his chair, letting his arms fall to his side It was lucky for him that you were either too stressed to notice or overall just dense and oblivious when it came to things that weren't bluntly romantic in nature. 

For someone that was smart, you had little to no awareness to when people thought about you in a sense that was anything more than platonic. 

It'd take for someone to outright tell you that they like you and would want to date you for you to understand what they meant.

Despite it being something that frustrated him to no end, it was also something that he was glad for, after all, it meant that he would never get caught. 

You'd only think he was acting a bit weirder than usual. 

Even with how much he's been slipping up recently you still haven't been able to catch on, though he guessed he shouldn't have expected you to. 

After hiding feelings from someone for over five years even small slip-ups, courtesy of Akihito of course, wasn't something that you really thought much about. 

He glanced back at you from the corner of his eye. 

There you were, you were trying your very best to stay calm and composed on the outside and to most people that was what you came across as but it was clear to him that you were freaking out more than you ever have. 

He let out a soft sigh as he twirled the pencil in his hands in between his fingers, the sound of it tapping against his desk was accompanied by him tapping the floor with his foot as he racked his mind for something else to think of. 

_'Why do I feel like someone's staring at me?'_

Looking over his shoulder he cringed and his eye twitched at the sight he was met with. 

Akihito gave the older male a teasing look, raising a brow at him as he glanced back at you and then back at the brunette, mouthing teasing words to him. 

_'I want to kill him right now...'_

He narrowed his eyes at him, shooting him a glare before roughly turning back as he tightened his grip around his pencil and roughly followed through with his work, ignoring the looks he was getting from his seatmates. 

Ugh, he was never to going to stop bothering him about this, was he?

If he knew Akihito, then there was no chance that he would stop bringing it up unless he finally came clean with you, he was sure that if he waited long enough that the dark-haired teen would take things into his own hands. 

His shoulders dropped as he let his hand stop writing. 

This was really bad. 

He really needed to come clean, didn't he?

A hand ran through his hair as he let out a deep sigh. 

God, this wasn't going to an easy thing to do, not in the slightest. 

* * *

"Sorry about that Sousuke, I really didn't think that it would cause that much trouble."

When you realized that Rin wasn't quite aware of the relationship between you and Sousuke you made a decision that you looked back on as being as less than wise decision. 

Despite it not being that big of a deal, you couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty for quote-unquote exposing the fact that you and Sousuke dated in your first year.

Though on the bright side it seemed that Sousuke was talking to you again, so that was something, right?

You let out an exasperated sigh. 

If it wasn't already quite obvious, you were trying extremely hard to try and not think about the problems your words could've caused. 

Sousuke might've not told Rin due to him not wanting anyone else to know and make things awkward but there was also the fact that he's always been the forgetful type. 

Though, considering his personality the former seemed to be the most likely. 

Well, to you at the very least. 

He tried not to let you know but it was obvious to you that he was clearly bothered by everything. 

You looked down at your feet as you leaned your back up against a wall, taking a break from your walk.

_'I keep doing this...'_

Sure, it wasn't something that you did intentionally but you couldn't help but think that you messed up once again. It was a common thing that you brought up whenever you were around Sousuke. 

Even after the relationship between the two of you ended you couldn't help but think that you caused him problems with everything that you did even when that was the last thing that you wanted to do. 

_'I'm not his problem anymore, so why do I feel like I cause him nothing problems?'_

He let out a deep sigh as the sound of rustling filled your ears, a harsh contrast against the quiet wind that surrounded you.

"Don't worry about it [Y/N], it's really not that big of a deal," he sighed out. "We just had a... conversation about things, I mean sure, things are a little awkward right now but I'm sure it'll all blow over soon enough."

At least he still tried to make you feel comfortable, even when you were sure that you didn't deserve it in the slightest.

You nodded absentmindedly. "I guess..."

"So, how've you been lately?"

That question was something that you dreaded hearing.

It was a rather simple question but you've heard it more times than you can even count ever since you've started your third year of high school. 

Everyone seemed to be more worried about you now than ever before. 

You guessed that since you were balancing everything on top of being a third-year now everyone was worried even though you've been the same since your first year. 

Was there really a difference between this year and the year before?

All you could guess was the fact that it was your last year everybody couldn't help but think about things even more than they ever did before. 

Despite knowing that they all meant well by their words you couldn't help but get annoyed every time you heard someone ask you how you were feeling. 

Even if you were truthful and said you were feeling stressed out then you'd have to explain yourself and you weren't even sure if you knew why you were feeling the way you were. 

It definitely wasn't at all like it was in the movies. 

Movies always made your last year of high school as this glamourous thing in which you did everything you didn't do without any shame or did things that were holding you back. 

If you knew that your third year was going to consist of agonizing over everything then you wouldn't have said that your third year was going to be your very best year in your high school experience. 

Ugh, how did this go from you apologizing to thinking about how frustrating you found your last year of high school to be?

"To be honest, I don't think I've ever been so bored in my entire life," you sighed out as you kicked down at the ground beneath you. "I feel like I'm just wasting away with how dull everything has been lately."

"If that's how you're feeling why don't we hang out this weekend?"

Your eye twitched at those words. 

Even someone as dense as you when it came to anything that involved romance knew that hearing your ex ask to hang out wasn't the same as a friend asking the same thing.

As you repeated those words in your head you narrowed your eyes, unintentionally glaring at anyone and everyone that passed by you. 

Nothing you were doing was exactly helping you in any way that didn't make you look like some shady person leaning against a dark corner. 

"A date..."

Just hearing the tone of your voice made him flinch, already feeling the glare you directed towards him through your voice. 

"It's just hanging out as friends, no romance involved I promise," he sighed out. 

Even if his offer wasn't made with anything in mind it'd be a lie to say he wasn't a bit offended by your reaction and how upset you were with even the implication that he meant a date. 

Though, it wasn't like he could really blame you for that type of reaction. 

Looking up, you let out a soft sigh and ran your fingers through your hair, twirling a lock of hair around your finger as you tugged on it. 

"I guess that sounds like a good idea, it'll definitely be a nice change of pace," you sighed out. "Maybe I can stop stressing myself so much."

"We can schedule it later, I really should get going."

You let out a disappointed sigh as you pointed your foot down, digging into the ground as you looked down with a disappointed look in your face. 

Even though nothing that interesting or important happened in the short conversation that you had with him you couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed that it was ending so soon. 

Crossing your arms across your chest you started to make your way home, looking down at your feet as you said goodbye. "I guess I'll talk to you later."

Unbeknownst to you, Sousuke couldn't help but feel relieved by your words, talking to you never really promised a next time for the two of you. 

He didn't have any time to think of anything before you hung up, leaving him a grin that he was sure that Rin wouldn't hesitate to make fun of him for is he saw. 

After a few more seconds passed, he slowly blinked as he let out a soft chuckle. 

It was an attempt that had better results than he expected, sure, it would've been better if he could've talked to you for a lot longer but he was more than happy with the prize of talking to you. 

* * *

To say that your... repuatation was a bit more different in your third year of high school would definitely be an understatement. 

Your entire persona of [Y/N] [L/N], manager of the volleyball club and a third-year at Iwatobi High School definitely did a 180 with everything that you've done so far.

If you were being honest you could've easily avoided all of the attention from your sudden change if you were a lot more subtle about things but that was something that you didn't even bother to touch on. 

As long as you could avoid things you were okay.

Even if it did draw in even more of the very attention that you disliked getting. 

Sure, it hurt quite a bit to hear those less than favourable reviews from your teachers regarding the recent change in your behaviour but all that mattered to you was ignoring as much change as possible. 

It was impossible for you to ignore it forever but you didn't really care about that, you were going to ignore it the best of your ability for as long as you possibly could. 

That's why when you passed by your teacher you felt anxious but at the same time surprisingly relaxed, at the paper, you threw away sitting at the top of the wastebasket. 

With a hand on the door, you let out a relieved sigh and closed your eyes. 

Unfortunately, you were never the best at getting away with doing things that disobeyed orders you were given from people, from family to teachers and many more. 

Maybe that's why you felt your anxiety fly through the roof as Miss Amakata went silent before clearing her throat and turning her attention to you. 

At that moment you felt your stomach drop as you smiled nervously to yourself, your hand gripping tightly onto the doorway with no intentions to let go anytime soon. 

"Miss [L/N], it seems as if you threw away your form without even filling anything out."

You slowly looked over your shoulder, your movements stiff as you looked at her with absolutely frozen nervousness clear on your face. "Uh..."

She simply tilted her head as she continued wearing her usual smile. "Is there something you would like to tell me?"

"Hahaha..." 

The nervous laughter that left your lips didn't really help anything as you felt yourself shrink under her surprisingly menacing smile. 

It was moments like this that made you wonder if it would've been better to purposefully just fail a few tests to get put into another class. 

At least then you wouldn't have to deal with Miss Amakata poking and prodding you about everything, she was surprisingly a better teacher than you expected her to be. 

Though you're not sure if that's a good thing now. 

You didn't even give her a second to say something to say to you before you whipped your head away from her and made haste out of the room, leaving her and everyone else that saw you completely and utterly slack-jawed. 

She blinked slowly as she began to process what just happened, an eye twitched as she looked back up at the door when you were no longer standing. 

Even though you were gone for a good few seconds she immediately went after, attracting confused stares that she simply ignored. 

You were the only thing on her mind. 

Well, you and wondering when she would be able to stop. 

It was surprising how fast you were for someone that claimed to not be athletic in the slightest. 

Despite feeling yourself lose a bit steam as you tried your very best to run away from the older woman you didn't even think about stopping. 

Even if she seemed to be a bit of a pushover when it came to something like touching on your future she was serious, it was to the point that she didn't even seem to be the same person.

Before you realized it, the older woman had already caught up with you, reaching out and pulling you back by the collar of your blazer. 

A frustrated groan left your lips. 

"Now, can we talk about this or are you going to continue to ignore me-"

She was suddenly surprised by the feeling of her hand on your blazer feeling lighter than before. Blinking slowly, she looked down and was left slack-jawed at the sight she was met with.

You were of course gone having slipped out of your blazer as you left her alone, not daring to even look over your shoulder as you turned a corner. 

"That was close..." You sighed out, bringing a hand up to your chest as you slid down the wall with closed eyes. 

It was a close call, but at least you were able to get away from her. 

Despite being "safe" at the moment you knew that you were most definitely going to be getting in trouble, you were many things but you weren't an idiot, well, not a complete idiot at least. 

Considering the fact that you just ran out of class, it was clear that you would get some sort of reprimanding from the brunette. 

You ran a hand through your hair as you let out a deep sigh, slowly bringing yourself back up to your feet. 

At least you could walk around for a good few minutes without worrying about anyone bothering you about anything. 

Though, now that you were thinking about it you weren't too sure that was really worth running out of class and embarrassing yourself in front of everyone. 

"[Y/N]?"

Ah, of course, you couldn't have time completely to yourself. 

It was too hard to believe that running away from having to deal with anyone would really be that easy. 

Shrugging your shoulders you let out a deep sigh before looking over your shoulder, giving a small wave as you flashed the blue-eyed teen a small smile. "Hey Haru, how are you doing?"

"Not nearly as bad as you."

"Hngh!"

Well, if everything was changing, it was nice to know at least there were some things that you were sure would stay somewhat the same. 

Even if it was a little frustrating, it was a bit reassuring. 

At least not everything was going to be changing, it was small but it was more than enough to give you even just a little peace of mind. 

"If anything, it's nice to know you're as blunt as usual."

"So, what are you doing here?" He asked as he leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. "Aren't you supposed to be in study hall right now?"

You froze at those words, cringing slightly as you leaned back onto the wall, looking away as you pursed your lips in annoyance. 

He just had to bring that up, didn't he?

You knew that it was obvious that you were doing something weird but you didn't want him to bring it up, but then again, it was too much to hope that Haru would be able to read the room and not bring it up. 

Another sigh left your lips as you tugged on the ends of your hair.,

"Well, I just, uh..."

Your attempts at racking your brain for an excuse to tell him weren't going as well as you would've hoped. 

Though, if you were being honest, it's not like you were the best at lying or coming up with excuses about anything. It was clear as day whenever you were lying or making up a mediocre excuse. 

"Ugh..."

The taller teen arched a brow at you as you buried your face in your hands, not bothering to even give him a second look. 

"Are you okay?"

"Not really," you groaned out as you looked up from your hands and back at him before quickly looking away.

Taking a deep breath, you buried your hands behind you back, tightly grabbing your fingers as you twisted them without a second thought. 

"Haru, things aren't changing that much, are they?"

Well, that was certainly a way of forming your question. 

Of course, that wasn't exactly what you wanted to ask and it definitely didn't come out as similar as your original question as you would've hoped but it was good enough. 

You just hoped that he would get what you said and would agree with you. 

It wasn't that you needed him to agree with you, it was more that you just wanted him to agree with you. 

Having someone agree with you about things after hearing essentially everyone around you tell you that your way of thinking was less than ideal, hearing someone agree with you was something that you really just wanted to hear. 

Blinking slowly, Haru glanced down at you before looking away and letting out a deep sigh. 

There really wasn't a need for him to say anything that wasn't needed at the moment, was there? 

Plus, it wasn't as if he was really lying with what he was going say, right?

After all, it was just a half-truth, him not telling you everything wasn't an outright lie. If he were to outright deny anything then he would definitely be a problem but at the moment, it should be that big of a deal. 

Feelings didn't really change over time, they just became more defined than ever before, but it wasn't as if he could outright tell you that. 

Hopefully, it wouldn't be at least. 

"I don't think things are changing that much."

You were a lot of things, you could admit that you were oblivious to many things to the point of annoyance for many people but you weren't dense to the point of not realizing or noticing anything. 

It was clear to you that while he wasn't really lying to you about everything, he was most definitely not telling you the full truth. 

Whether you liked it or not things were changing and it was clear to you that even though he wasn't as blunt about it as you, he wasn't nearly as calm with the changes as he came off as being on the outside. 

Even despite that, you flashed him a smile, it didn't help as much as you would've helped but it was an attempt that you were more than thankful for. 

"Thanks, Haru."


	39. 𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑹𝑻𝒀 𝑺𝑰𝑿 | 𝑯𝑬𝑳𝑫 𝑩𝑨𝑪𝑲 𝑽𝑶𝑰𝑪𝑬𝑺

𝙃𝙊𝙒 𝘼𝙍𝙀 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙎𝙐𝙋𝙋𝙊𝙎𝙀𝘿 𝙏𝙊 𝙎𝙃𝙊𝙒 𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙍 𝙁𝙀𝙀𝙇𝙄𝙉𝙂𝙎 𝙏𝙊 𝙎𝙊𝙈𝙀𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝙒𝙃𝙀𝙉 𝙔𝙊𝙐'𝙑𝙀 𝘽𝙀𝙀𝙉 𝙃𝙄𝘿𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙈 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝙒𝙃𝙊 𝙆𝙉𝙊𝙒𝙎 𝙃𝙊𝙒 𝙇𝙊𝙉𝙂_**?**_

That was something that Makoto was wondering for the longest but didn't start to truly worry about until his first year at Iwatobi High School. 

It was something that he wanted to push off to the side and was able to push it away for quite a while.

To be honest it wasn't like things would really change if he ever did tell you anything, with the way that he said things he would probably come across as being more friendly than romantic with his words. 

He let out a deep sigh as he buried his face into his hands, all he could do was try his very best to hold back a frustrated groan at his situation. 

Of course, it wasn't the worse thing in the world but it still wasn't something that he liked dealing with. 

Things were awkward in the first two years of high school but they were still "normal", it wasn't to the point that made him want to drop dead from embarrassment. It was a balanced amount of awkwardness but since the new year has started it has been worse than ever before. 

It seemed as if he couldn't go a single conversation with you without feeling like his cheeks were burning and his heart was about to beat out of his chest. 

He could barely pay attention to Miss Amakata as she talked to the rest of the class, the only reason why he was taking in anything that was being said was due to her writing everything down on the board behind her. 

It was stupid to be so hung up on something so small but he just couldn't help it. 

For the longest time he thought about just telling you everything, at least then he would be able to get everything off of his chest and deal with different things. 

But of course, he couldn't do that. 

Just the idea of it made him want to throw up. 

How could he do something like confess to a childhood friend that he just started getting close to again after drifting apart from each other for three years?

Plus, things were just starting to get back to "normal" with everyone else, he was sure that if he said anything it would mess everything up and make things even more awkward than ever before. 

Sure, everyone would act like nothing was wrong but he was sure that no one would be able to stop thinking about that, well, he at the very least wouldn't. 

All Haru could do was blankly stare at the taller teen as he let out a sigh, letting his cheek fall in his palm. 

He always did overthink everything even if there wasn't really much of a point of it, sure, there wasn't a problem with it but it did get annoying after a while. 

Though, it wasn't like he really noticed it all that much. 

Leaning towards Makoto, Haru brought his hand up to his mouth as he whispered out to the brunette.

He did not expect the reaction that he got from him. 

"Makoto..."

Without even thinking the brunette suddenly stood up from his seat, letting a loud screech echo throughout the room as his chair pushed back against the wooden floor. 

The room fell completely silent as all eyes fell on the brunette, it was so quiet that even the sound of just someone breathing could be heard. 

He slowly blinked as he felt his cheeks start to heat up until his cheeks felt like they on fire as he started to glow a deep red that would put anything else to shame. 

"Mr. Tachibana?" Miss Amakata asked as she simply tilted her head, flashing him her usual small smile. "Do you have a question?"

All she could do was give a confused smile as she watched the brunette teen quickly apologize before sitting back down, hiding his face as the class erupted in giggles. 

"Well, let's just get back to it, shall we?"

It only took a few seconds but it felt likes ages until everyone got focused again, his embarrassment seemed to make time go by far slower than ever before. 

He let out a deep sigh as he looked up from his hands, glancing at the dark-haired teen sitting to his left from the corner of his eyes. 

It wasn't like he ever had an issue with anything that Haru ever did, it was more of the feeling that Haru gave him when the two of them were with each other. 

Long before anything serious really happened with you there was always a lingering feeling of doubt and maybe inferiority that he didn't want to acknowledge.

Feeling eyes on him, Haru looked over to his side from the corner of his eye and locked eye's with Makoto's green ones before he quickly looked away. 

His eyes widened slightly as he watched the taller teen ignore him, not even bothering to acknowledge what just happened. It was clear to him that there was something wrong.

But what could he really do?

It wasn't like he had any evidence that he was acting any differently from usual, if anything Makoto could simply use the excuse of it being their third year for why he was acting differently.

He let out a soft sigh as he turned away and looked out the window with a distant look in his eyes. 

There wasn't a point in bringing it up, after all, it couldn't really be all that important if Makoto wasn't bringing up himself, right? 

It wasn't like he'd have much success even if he did bring up to him, social interaction wasn't exactly his forte even if it was with someone that he's known for almost his entire life. 

What would even happen if he brought it up?

Maybe things would be alright or maybe there would be an argument, there was a chance that everything would be fine but the considering how much change has been occurring since the new year has started. 

All it would do was cause problems and change things between the two of them. 

These changes weren't something he wanted to acknowledge one bit, not in the slightest. 

* * *

"[Y/N], do you have a crush on anyone?"

A familiar voice broke you out of your thoughts as you suddenly looked up to see two familiar girls giving you a small smile though it was clear to you that they were planning something. 

You furrowed your brows as you stood up, your cheeks burning as you began to process her question. "Why do you ask? I don't think that's really important, right?"

"Don't be ridiculous!"

Huh?

The taller girl smiled widely as she clasped her hands together and brought them up to her face as she looked into the distance with a lovestruck look in her eyes. 

"It's extremely important, don't you want to have a romantic high school life?"

"Well-"

You weren't given any time to answer her question when she interrupted you without even giving you an apology. "High school is something that you're going to look back on when you graduate, plus, it's your third year so it's not like you really have much time for anything."

Ugh, she was your friend but if there was anything about her that you weren't the biggest fan of it definitely had to be her obsession with romance and oblivious bluntness. 

She could try to be a bit more aware of her words and try even just a little to soften her words so they weren't as rude as they sounded. 

But beggars can't really be choosers, can they?

You really didn't have the biggest group of friends, well, at least not friends that talked to you on a regular basis and treated you like a normal person. 

"Is it really that important?" You asked, speaking so quickly that you were surprised that you didn't bite your tongue in the process. 

Getting things out around her was always a struggle that you didn't think was worth bothering with. 

The brunette let out a sigh as she kicked at the taller girl's shin, not bothering to even look at her as she fell to the floor, instead, giving you all of her attention as she leaned her back against the wall. 

A small giggle left her lips as she looked down at you. "Sorry about that," she apologized. "You know how annoying Manami can be when it comes to these type of things."

You let out a soft sigh as pulled your bag over your shoulder. "I definitely do," you looked down at the taller girl as she stood up, grabbing her leg as she groaned quietly to herself before whining to the brunette. 

"Was there really a need to do that? You know, you could've just said something to me."

Narumi's expression was drier than the Sahara desert at his point. "That's not nearly as fun."

"Wha-"

She didn't wait for a response from the black-haired girl as she turned over to you with a small smile. "Don't worry about her, you don't need to say anything if you don't want to."

Your shoulders stiffened at her words before you quickly let them fall as you flashed her a small smile, looking over your shoulder as your eye fell un a sleeping brunette. "I really don't have any serious plans for any romance, well, at least not at the moment."

A teasing grin found its way to the taller girl's lips, crouching down just slightly as she took a step closer to you. 

Oh no...

You knew that look on her face, she teased you about more things than you could say off the top of your tongue but that look was reserved for talking about one specific person. 

Turning away almost immediately you felt your cheeks start to burn as the tips of your ears started to glow a deep red.

She didn't even say anything yet but you were still embarrassed by the words that you were more than 100% sure would leave her lips. 

"Are you going to wait for college to get into a serious relationship Kisumi then?"

You groaned. 

There it was. 

She really didn't care about how embarrassed you were, did she?

But of course, it wasn't as if you really expected much out of her. She's always been like that, it was like she just founded it funny to see you suffer from embarrassment. 

"Kisumi?" Manami looked at the two of you with a confused expression as she tilted her head to the side.

Sure, the two of you were... in some sort of relationship but it wasn't something that she ever saw as serious in the slightest or even something that would ever get serious. 

There was really only one person that would pop up into her head whenever she thought about you and a serious relationship. 

Just thinking about you and someone other than him was just strange and something she couldn't imagine no matter how hard she tried. 

"Of course," Narumi said. "Who else would it be?"

Manami blinked slowly as if her answer was obvious to the two of you. 

"Kenji of course."

Huh?

"What?!" The two of you said in unison, looking absolutely slack-jawed at her response. 

She said a lot of things that were definitely not something you would've expected her to say but that was certainly never something you thought would leave her lips. 

You were sure you'd hear her say she's moving to someplace to Bora Bora before ever hearing her say that she thought you and Kenji would get together. 

The worse thing about it was the fact that you didn't really have a problem with that, it wasn't as if you were embarrassed that it was Kenji, it was more that you were embarrassed she implied that he'd ever have feelings like that. 

He would never, right?

Kenji would never think of you like that you were sure of it. 

Of course, he's made jokes about it. 

Enough jokes about it to fill a jokebook about your love life but it was never something that you ever took seriously, he was just not someone you viewed in that way. 

"Don't be ridiculous!" You said as you took a step forward towards the tall girl, your cheeks were absolutely burning to the point that they felt like they were on fire. "Kenji would never-"

"I would never what?"

Huh?

The three of your froze, standing in place without daring to move a single inch as you all began to process the familiar voice that you just heard. 

Why, isn't this just great?

It'd be more shocking if he didn't interrupt you and you were able to go on with your day without feeling like you wanted to drop dead. 

Ugh, this embarrassment was probably equal to the time you accidentally threw up on one of your upperclassman's pants during your first tournament. 

You took a deep breath as you slowly looked over your shoulder, trying your very best to smile though to the brunette teen it looked more like you were trying your best not to cry. 

"I-Is there something wrong?" Kenji asked, not exactly sure what was going on and what he was supposed to say to you, to be honest, it looked like all of you were on the verge of crying with the looks on your face. 

He wasn't someone that you were always smiling with and being happy go lucky with but he didn't expect you to look so upset when you saw his face. 

"Um, what were you guys talking abo-"

You suddenly cut him off as you stepped on his foot without any hesitation whatsoever and took a step in front of him. 

"Hey! Did you know that in junior high in PE when were going through with swimming Kenji threw up in the pool and class was cancelled for a week while they cleaned it out?"

"Wha-"

All he could do was stare at you in shock as he watched you quickly change the subject as it went from whatever you were talking about earlier to poking fun at him. 

Maybe it would've been better if he just didn't say anything at all. 

* * *

"Nagisa?"

You looked up at the second-year with a confused look on your face as you tilted your head to the side. It was a surprise to come home to find Nagisa on your doorstep. 

It wasn't as if you had a particular issue with him showing up there, he'd done the same things multiple times since the two of you were in junior high. 

The only difference was that he'd always tell you whenever he was coming over, plus considering how surprised he was to see you something had to be wrong. 

At least that's what you thought, with the way that he was acting something definitely had to be wrong with him. Even with how spontaneous he was he would've at least given you a warning. 

Though, considering his odd behaviour lately, it wasn't something that was too out of the ordinary. 

He looked at you with a small smile. "I didn't see you there [N/N]."

You gave him a deadpanned look. 

That was possibly the worse lie you've ever heard him tell in all the years that you've known him for. 

Yup. 

There was no doubt about it, there was definitely something up with him and you were going to get to the bottom of it. Even if Nagisa didn't want you to himself. 

"What are you doing here?"

Nagisa wasn't stupid by any means, but some of the things that you said really got you questioning what type of things were on his mind. 

You looked up at him with a blank expression dressing your face. "This is quite literally my house Nagisa," you deadpanned, not flinching even a bit as he turned away from you, his shoulders stiffening. 

He was making this way too easy. 

It was like he wanted you to find out what he was hiding from you. 

Taking a deep breath, he pulled his bag over his shoulder and tried to walk past you with his eyes tightly squeezed shut. "Well, looks like I should get going, I'll talk to you at school tomorrow-"

Before he could take a step outside the gate he was pulled back as you grabbed the back of his blazer and roughly pulled him back. 

Nope, he wasn't getting away from you that easily.

"Let's go inside already."

"Huh?"

You simply tilted your head. "You're here already, might as well just come in and make yourself at home." You let out a soft sigh as you watched him process your words as if trying to figure out whether he should stay or go. 

"It's getting late, you might as well just come inside. Don't worry about it, it's just a few hours, nothing bad's going to happen if you wait until tomorrow to go home. 

He might've walked inside if it wasn't for you pulling him inside, not really giving him a chance even with the words that fell from your lips.

Nagisa almost tripped over his feet as he let out pull him along. 

"Do you really have to pull me? I can just come in by myself," he whined. 

"Considering how you've been acting I highly doubt..." You mumbled under your breath. 

"What was that?"

"Nothing," you curtly replied. "Let's get in already, it's getting cold."

* * *

This was a lot more awkward than you were planning for it to be. 

I mean, sure, you knew that considering how things started out everything wouldn't be going along as smooth as butter but you expected it to be somewhat normal.

But nope, it felt like you were being held down by fifty pounds of weights, the thick silence was starting to get to you and you weren't sure what to do. 

"So..."

"Yeah, so..."

_'Crap! That didn't work in the slightest! What is with him?'_

You looked over at the strawberry blonde from the corner of your eye, scrutinizing his figure every second your eyes were on him. 

If you knew this was how it was going to be you would've never brought up staying over to him. 

A deep sigh left your lips as you ran your finger through your hair, pinching your hair as you lightly tugged it in frustration. 

Couldn't he at least try to act friendly and like the air around you was probably going to kill either of you if not both of you in a few more seconds?

"Nagisa, what is going on with you?"

Immediately, Nagisa looked up at you, his eye wide in shock at your words. 

You probably would've had the same look on your face if you weren't frozen in shock at your very own words. 

Not wanting to focus on the embarrassing past of five seconds ago with how blunt and straight forward you just were, you flashed him a smile. 

You tried your very best to make it as comfortable as you possibly could though you were sure that it looked a bit stiffer than you planned for it to be. 

Nagisa tilted his head to the side in confusion. 

He really wasn't making things much easier for you. 

"Is there anything wrong?"

Your eye twitched. 

Taking a deep breath you let your shoulders fall as you gave him a smile, this time a bit more relaxed than before. "You've been acting... differently lately, is everything alright?"

His breath hitched as his shoulder stiffened slightly. 

The small smile on his face disappeared for a second before he quickly returned back to his usual smile. "Everything's fine, don't worry about it," he waved off your concerns with ease. 

You let out a deep breath. 

Just how were you supposed to ask him anything?

He's always been good at diverting the focus away from him, you were sure that if you said anything it would sound a bit too stiff and forced, especially considering how jarring it was going to sound. 

"I'm fine."

You looked up with wide eyes, dropping the chopsticks in your hands in surprise. "You're actually alive? Considering how quiet you've been, I was under the impression you couldn't speak."

His shoulder dropped. "You know, you could be a bit nicer with your words."

Nagisa's face scrunched up, his brows furrowing together tightly, and his lips pursed into an unintentional pout. 

You simply send him a blank look of despair. "I really can't, though, maybe I'd be a bit nicer if you actually listened to me and answered my questions."

"[N/N]?" Nagisa asked after a few moments, looking far more relaxed and comfortable than before. His confidence is as clear as day to see even with his little movements. "You're really pretty."

Huh?

"Wha- I-" You stumble to answer him, sounding entirely flustered as your cheeks start to burn from blood rushing to your cheeks. "Where did that come from?!"

You had no idea what to say, absolutely nothing would come up into your mind. All you could do was repeat his words in your head, you probably heard his words in your head at least a hundred times in only a few seconds. 

"Nowhere," he smiled. "I just thought I should point it out since I don't say it a lot."

The fact that he was most likely saying those words should've gotten you annoyed but you couldn't help but get even more flustered as he continued to speak. 

His eye on you only made your cheeks burn even more.

With a soft sigh leaving your lips you shook your head and looked up, flashing a small smile. 

There was no point in confronting him, not when everything was starting to seem comfortable enough for him to actually talk to you, even if you were sure there was something wrong. 

A small smile, the hint of fakeness that you held could barely be noticed by the average eye. 

"Well, I hope you've been feeling well lately."


	40. 𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑹𝑻𝒀 𝑺𝑬𝑽𝑬𝑵 | 𝑶𝑽𝑬𝑹𝑾𝑯𝑬𝑳𝑴𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑾𝑶𝑹𝑫𝑺

"𝙄 𝙇𝙄𝙆𝙀 𝙔𝙊𝙐."

You had absolutely no idea what you were supposed to say or even what type of look you were supposed to have on your face at those words. 

Though you were more than sure that your surprise was written clearly on your face. 

What were you supposed to say to him in the first place?

It wasn't like it was something that you were ever expecting to hear leave the brunette's lips. He never came off as someone that would ever say something like that. 

You blinked slowly, staring at him with wide eyes. 

Nothing would leave your lips as you repeated his words in your head over and over again, you probably heard those words repeated in your head at least a hundred times in only a few seconds. 

It wasn't like there was even any buildup to this moment, it came completely out of nowhere causing the former conversation topic to be completely forgotten by you. 

The way he changed the conversation was extremely jarring, one moment you were talking about future tests and the next moment it was a confession. 

All the brunette did was watch you with a lazy look on his face as he waited for you to finish with your inner turmoil, despite the words that he said. 

Despite looking calm on the outside he was internally screaming as he processed the words that managed to escape his lips out of nowhere. 

That was certainly not what he was expecting to say when he opened his mouth. 

He just couldn't get his mind off of those thoughts, it just wouldn't leave his mind no matter how hard he tried. 

It was even more difficult to ignore than ever before and the thoughts of high school ending, as well as everyone, also known as solely Akihito Oda in his ear pressuring him about coming clean with everything, wasn't exactly helping things. 

Glancing away from you he felt his cheeks start to burn as he waited for a response from you, the atmosphere was starting to be too much for the both of you. 

The both of you took a deep breath as you tightly shut your eyes tight for a second before looking up at each other with determined looks on your faces. 

You had both hyped yourself enough to finally say something to each other but before that could happen the both of you interrupted each other without meaning to. 

**"Ke-"**

**"So-"**

Ugh, that just had to happen, didn't it?

You looked away immediately, the embarrassment was getting too much to handle. 

First, your heard him say something like he likes you then you're pretty sure he witnessed the weird looks on your face as you processed his words and now you spoke at the same time as he did. 

Things just weren't going your way today, it wasn't going nearly as well as you would've liked though in hindsight you didn't expect too much considering what has happened so far. 

You took a deep breath once more as you looked up, your cheeks burning more than you ever thought it was when you left school. "I-"

"Pfft-"

Of course, why weren't you surprised. 

He burst into intense laughter, grabbing his stomach as fell to his knees, wiping a tear from his eyes as he wheezed obviously finding what he said to be a lot more humorous than you thought it was. 

Your eye twitched. 

_'It wasn't even that funny...'_

The punchline was pretty mediocre in the first place yet he was laughing like it was the funniest thing int he entire world, you had no words. 

Well, you did have a few words for him they just weren't appropriate considering the tone of the atmosphere around the two of you. 

Narrowing your eyes at him, you leaned to the side as you placed a hand on your hip. 

All you could do was give the brunette an annoyed look, there was no other look you could think to give him, you were more embarrassed than upset or annoyed but you couldn't let him know that. 

Your annoyance was apparent to anyone else that passed by, you were sure that even the animals around you were aware of how you were less than pleased with things. 

It seemed as if almost everyone and everything disappeared the moment you started laughing and showing your annoyance through your glare. 

Anyone else that was nearby you avoided eye contact as they quickly walked passed the two of you, fortunately managing to avoid your gaze.

Even with how he was hard he was laughing you weren't offended or annoyed with the reaction he had, you were more embarrassed than anything. 

The thought of him actually liking you in that was something that embarrassed you beyond belief. The mere thought made you feel your cheeks start to heat. 

Ugh, that's what you get for believing anything that came from Kenji's mouth you guessed. 

It wasn't like he was ever honest with things like that, it'd be more of a shook if he did come clean with you about anything like that. 

You groaned as you looked away from him with a pout. "There are moments when I think you can't be any more of a jerk and then you do things like that."

Kenji wiped a tear from his eye as he stood up, dusting the dirt off of his knees as he took another deep breath. "Come on, don't take everything so seriously."

He really didn't take anything seriously, did he?

For all the years that the two of you have known each other, you would've thought that you would start to expect these sorts of things from him. 

But of course, you still were somewhat surprised by the things that he said. 

Not bothering to look back at him you let out an exaggerated sigh as you kicked at the dirt beneath your foot before walking away from him. 

Sure, it was immature but you couldn't help the way you were feeling. 

It was the only way you could prevent him from seeing how embarrassed you were truly feeling, there was no way you would show him that he managed to get you flustered as long as you lived. 

"Wha-"

You ignored the sound of shock that left the brunette's lips, you could just feel your cheeks burn and burn even more than you thought was humanly possible just by the sound of his voice. 

"[N/N], wait up!"

Unfortunately, the brunette managed to catch up with you a lot faster than you had hoped. It seemed as if he showed up by your side in just a few seconds. 

Your eye twitched. 

Why did you have to be friends with athletes that were probably a hundred times more athletic than you?

All that did was cause more and more problems with you. 

Despite not wanting to face him, you reluctantly looked at him from the corner of your eye, not daring to even let your frown leave your lips. 

Ugh, even after everything he said he looked apologetic about what he said. 

What was even the point of saying something like that if it was just a joke and then look apologetic about it?

You could never understand any of the things that he said or did.

He was a complete idiot and that was something that you would stand by no matter what, even if a hundred years passed by he would still be an idiot in your eyes. 

Slowing down in your stride as you felt your self getting tired you looked away as you puffed your cheeks up. "You're really a jerk sometimes, you know that right?"

"Of course, you've said that a million times before."

Your eye twitched once again. "Can't you sound even just a bit more genuine with your words?!"

"Sure," he replied in a monotone voice, the look on his face was a blank as you've ever seen since the day you've met him. 

Letting out a deep sigh you looked into the distance, not even bothering to spare him a single glance from the corner of your eyes as you kicked his shin without any warning.

"Ow!" He yelped as he grabbed his leg, shooting you a glare that you avoided as his gaze. "Just what was that for, you jerk?!" He asked though it sounded more like he was telling you to answer him. 

You didn't say anything as you sped up in your stride leaving him alone in shock before quickly caught up with you once again. 

Without any warning, you came to a sudden stop causing the brunette to bump into you before you looked over your shoulder with an annoyed look on your face, the tips of your ears were painted an almost translucent pink. 

"For someone that constantly tells me the way I act with confessions is rude it was pretty hypocritical for you to come up with a fake confession," you huffed out as you turned away from him with puffed up cheeks. 

You folded your arms over your chest with a strong motion as you ignored the nervous look on his face. 

There was no point in you apologizing. 

After all, it was his fault. 

Well, that was what you were telling yourself so you wouldn't apologize the moment your accusation left your lips. It was almost impossible for you to stay angry at him but you sure were going to try. 

Despite telling yourself that you were going to try it wasn't exactly going as well as you would've hoped. 

Even just a few seconds after saying everything you couldn't help but feel sorry for raising your voice for what you now perceived as something that wasn't even that serious. 

"Just, don't do anything like that again."

Kenji looked up at you as he blinked slowly, your words slowly going through his head. "Sure," he sighed out. "It's not like I have to do it-"

"The mere idea of you of all people liking me makes me feel weird," you interrupted him. 

Huh?

Of course, why wasn't he at all surprised by the words that fell from your lips as you interrupted his sentence with?

It'd be more of a shock if you didn't say something like that, in all the years he known you it seemed like nothing changed with you. 

Well, at least nothing really changed with the way you treated him all the time. 

It was as if the two of you were still kids that didn't really know much of anything and while that was something he was grateful for most of the time it was certainly a hindrance in more ways that one. 

Ugh, childhood romance in shows really set up unrealistic love stories with how common and easy they all make it seem to get with your childhood friend. 

He let out a deep sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Whatever, I promise I won't-"

"[Y/N]!"

Before he could say anything else the brunette was interrupted by the voice of someone that he would usually call a friend but wasn't fond of at the moment. 

Of all the times he showed up, he just had to show up now, didn't he?

He always seemed to be able to show up whenever he was getting somewhere with you, even if things were progressing at a rate of a centimeter an hour. 

It was something that he couldn't seem to stand even if he did think of the light-haired teen as a close friend. 

Maybe it was a bit too much to think that it was possible to have even a little bit of time with you with the things he was planning to say.

A soft sigh left his lips as he ran his hand through his hair, softly kicking at the dirt beneath his feet. 

He couldn't help feel frustrated about everything. "Ugh, did he really have to show up now of all times," he mumbled under his breath. 

Despite the obvious annoyance he was feeling you didn't notice anything wrong with the brunette as you waved back at the pink-haired teen.

Your lips curled up into a wide smile as a pale blush dusted your cheeks. "Hey, Kisumi!"

It was a pleasant surprise especially with how awkward things were going to be, you were more than sure that something that was going to make the air even more awkward was going to happen. 

Kisumi's appearance was certainly a surprise but it was a welcome one that you were happy to see than you ever thought, it was certainly a surprise.

You never thought you'd be so happy to see Kisumi of all people but I guess there's a first time for everything.

The pink-haired teen waved back at you with a smile, holding back a smirk that was dying to snake it's way to his lips as he looked behind you at the brunette. 

Before making your way over to the taller teen you flashed a smile at Kenji from over your shoulder, folding your hands together as you gave him an apologetic smile. 

"Sorry about this Kenji," you apologized. "Are you okay with walking home alone?"

He stared back at you for a second before letting out a deep sigh, giving you a closed eye smile as he grabbed the back of his head. "It's alright

It was always an obvious tell of his whenever he was lying; it wasn't even like he ever tried to hide it whenever he did it if anything he made it as clear as possible.

Though it was clear to him that you couldn't tell there was anything wrong with him as long as Kisumi was there; all of your attention would be on him until he was gone. 

Nervous laughter left his lips as he looked away from you, digging his feet into the dirt beneath his feet. "It's alright, don't worry about it."

Sure, it was a blatant lie that wasn't even being told well at that but what else could he do?

Was he supposed to tell you he wasn't alright with walking home alone and that he wanted to talk to you about certain things for just a little bit longer?

He held back a sigh as you turned on your heels and made your way over to him. 

It was a sight that he wanted to look away from but at the same time he just couldn't bring himself to do that; it would've been best if he managed to do that. 

Just as you made your way over to the taller teen you were barely given any time to say anything before Kisumi leaned down to your height. 

Without any hesitation whatsoever he grabbed the back of your head as he pressed his lips against yours making you forget about everything else. 

He pulled away almost immediately leaving you to just stare distantly with a confused look on your face; your face was burning up as you slowly processed anything. 

All the pink-haired teen did was look over your shoulder as he returned to his original height as he sent the brunette a teasing grin. 

Before he could say anything else he put his arm around your shoulder as the two of you went on your way. All you could do was grab your burning cheeks, nothing else would process. 

You didn't notice anything between the two boys. 

Isn't that such a shame...

* * *

Just as one would've thought, the moment the two of you were out of sight from the brunette you switched moods in mere seconds. 

The transition was scary with how quickly it happened. 

With narrowed eyes you turned to the taller teen, bringing your foot down on his own and shoving your elbow into his side, ignoring his whines. 

"Are you a complete idiot?!" You asked in frustration. 

Even with your annoyance you couldn't help but feel your cheeks burn more and more as the seconds passed by. 

It was moments like this that made you wonder what on earth was the reason for you still having the relationship you have with him.

You'd think all of the stupid and embarrassing things he's done to embarrass would be more than enough to make you a halt to everything with him. 

And if you weren't going to stop talking to him you'd at least stop the confusion relationship you have with the taller boy.

But, of course, you could never really find yourself doing something like that, no matter how many times you thought about it in your head.

"What was that for [N/N]?" He whined. 

Your eye twitched. 

The fact that he didn't understand what he did or at least acted like he didn't know what was wrong with the things he did only got you even more annoyed. 

Ugh, nothing you could say would ever change anything that Kisumi did no matter how hard you tried. 

"You know exactly what that was for," you reached up to the taller boy, standing on your tiptoes as you grabbed onto his cheek and pulled him down to your level. "You do things like this all the time, when are you going to learn how embarrassing you are."

"I get it, I get it," he whined. "Just please stop pinching my cheek it's starting to hurt a lot."

You arched a brow, pulling him down once more before letting him go. "There."

Glancing over at Kisumi rubbing his cheek from the corner of your eye you let out a soft sigh. "I really don't get why you always do stupid things like this when you and I both know you're not serious in the slightest."

A deep silence fell over the two of you. 

You took a deep gulp as you grabbed your arm. 

It always seemed to get awkward between the two of you whenever you tried to make things serious. He never liked talking about those sorts of things.

Well, that wouldn't really be completely accurate. 

A more accurate phrasing would be he wasn't the biggest fan of talking about things a serious way whenever he was with you. 

Of course, you never witnessed it yourself so you only had accounts from other people but it seemed that he had no problem talking seriously with everyone else that wasn't you. 

It wasn't like the two of you weren't close. 

The two of you have known each other since your first year of junior high, you were sure that most of the people that he talked to have only known him since the start of high school if that long at all. 

Sure, it was a bit immature to get annoyed at something so small but you just couldn't help yourself. 

With how long your... certain relationship with Kisumi has been going on you would've hoped that he would trust you just a bit to talk to you about that type of stuff. 

Though it seems like that wasn't really a possibility at the moment. 

Kisumi took a deep breath before glancing back at you from the corner of his eye. 

He buried his hands into his pockets, his shoulders stiffening as his head was racked with thoughts on what to say. He was really overthinking everything. 

It wasn't something he really should think about so much but with how long he's been keeping his life's updates he couldn't help himself. 

Another deep breath and he opened his mouth to say something he's been holding back from you for a good few weeks. 

"I'm not really hanging out with Mika and Sae anymore," he looked down at his feet, ignoring you as your wandering gaze stopped at his face. "Well, not in that way anymore at least."

You arched a brow. 

All you could do was turn away with a huff. 

It wasn't that Kisumi was a liar or anything like that, he just tended to keep the entire truth to himself which just lead to you and everyone else to speculate about everything. 

You huffed to yourself as you looked down at your feet. "I don't know why you're telling me something like that, it's not like it's really interesting news for you to break a few girl's hearts-"

"I wanted to let you know that I'm being serious when I say I like you."

You froze at the words that left lips. 

Of all the things that you would've expected to hear him say that definitely wasn't near the top of the list, it wasn't even on the list in general. 

It wasn't something you ever expected to hear from him. 

Maybe it wasn't the best or nicest thing to do but what else could you have done? I

After all, it was Kisumi of all people. Sure, he wasn't a liar but he could've just said something like that while planning to do something only a few days later. 

It wouldn't really be something that you would really be surprised or too out of character for him. 

Looking up you turned away from him as you pulled your bag over your shoulder.

You didn't even bother to shoot him a single glance as you made your past him. "You really shouldn't say things like that when you and both now they won't last for long."

Kisumi sped up in his stride as he tried to catch up to you, catching up to you after only a few seconds. It was annoying that everyone was taller than you. 

It barely took any time for someone to catch up with you if you tried to leave them behind, it didn't help you in your attempts to give people the silent treatment. 

"What is that supposed to mean?" Kisumi whined. 

You turned to look at him with puffed up cheeks, your face burning in embarrassment. "What I mean is that you always flirt with me but then you turn around and flirt with a bunch of other girls at your school."

Kisumi blinked slowly at your words before a playful smile made it's way to his face, sending you a wink with his next statement.

"Then it looks like I just have to show you that I'm being serious."

Your eye twitched.

"Can't you take things seriously for once?"

"I'm taking things extremely serious [N/N]."

Letting out an exasperated sigh you turned your head. 

There really wasn't anything else that you could say, he really wouldn't take no for an answer no matter how much you let him know how you felt. 

It was a pain to deal with but what else could you do?

All Kisumi could do was do whatever he could to make you realize how serious he was being, it wasn't something that was going to be easy but he had to at least try. 


	41. 𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑹𝑻𝒀 𝑬𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻 | 𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑭𝑼𝑺𝑬𝑫 𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝑭𝑳𝑼𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑬𝑫

"𝙄𝙏'𝙎 𝙉𝙄𝘾𝙀 𝙏𝙊 𝙃𝙀𝘼𝙍 𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙏 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙂𝙎 𝙒𝙊𝙍𝙆𝙀𝘿 𝙊𝙐𝙏 𝙄𝙉 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙀𝙉𝘿."

Your suspicions about Nagisa's odd behaviour turned out to be right in the end, you, unfortunately, weren't there for anything but you found out through Makoto what was going on. 

Nagisa turned out to be stressed and insecure about things that were going on recently at home, specifically things that were going on with his parents over school.

It wasn't something that was too shocking for you to learn, it was something that was always there though it was much more obvious in junior high. 

Despite him never getting any resolution as far as you were concerned you were under the impression that he got over it in a sense. The fact that he never brought it up again cemented that way of thinking. 

It was nice that things worked out in the end with everyone else despite his odd behaviour though you would've liked to have done something to help. You let out a sigh. 

Well, there wasn't any point in mulling over it any longer. It wasn't like you could do anything to help him with something that was already resolved. 

Is there something wrong?" Makoto asked; he broke you out of your thoughts with ease causing you to look up with surprised wide eyes. 

Ah, you zoned out once again. 

You seemed to be zoning out way more than you usually do and that was really saying something considering how much you do that on a regular basis. 

"Nothing," you lied. 

Lying about something being wrong was definitely going to cause problems but that seemed to be the easiest thing to do at the moment rather than just mentioning what was wrong. 

You shook your head as you muttered something else that the brunette couldn't understand to yourself. "Anyways, how are you doing Makoto?"

"Hm?" He tilted his head. "I'm doing alright, I suppose."

Well, that wasn't the answer you were expecting to get from him. It seemed as if things weren't going as well on his side as you thought at first. 

It was just hard to believe that Makoto would have trouble with anything. 

Sure, it was normal for everyone to be stressed about everything going on since it was your last year of high school. It was just hard to think of someone like Makoto who seemed to be all put together being stressed about things. 

"[Y/N]?"

Makoto was the first one to say something as he looked down at his hands, he didn't even bother to look at you. Maybe it would just be a bit more stressful to do that. 

What he wanted to talk was already something that caused more than enough stress for everyone but considering the fact that it was you he was sure that would've just caused more stress. 

"Hm?"

There was definitely something off about him. 

Before you couldn't really tell there was something wrong with him, you would really need to pay attention to his behaviour to tell that he was acting differently. And even then you might not notice that he was even stressed in the first place, forget realizing the reason behind most of his stress. 

"What is it?" You asked. 

He looked away from you before letting out a soft sigh to himself. "Did you finalize your plans?"

You held back a groan. 

It was really impossible to get away from this, wasn't it?

No matter how hard you tried to get away from any discussion about your plans regarding your future it seemed to follow you every you went, unfortunately. 

Despite the urge, you were feeling to let out an annoyed sigh or even quite literally try and run away as you've done for the past few weeks you stopped yourself. 

There wasn't really a point in doing so, plus, it was just Makoto. He's always been there for you when you were feeling stressed out and confused with things, the least that you could do was return the favour by listening to him and possibly give him your mediocre advice. 

"Not really," you sighed as you leaned back onto your palms. "I'm still thinking over everything. I've gotten some offers but I'm sure yet."

You glanced over at him from the corner of your eye. "Why? Do you have everything figured out yet?"

For a split second, Makoto looked surprised by your words before returning to his usual smile. He stuttered before finding his voice again. "Uh, not exactly," he laughed. 

It was an obviously forced laugh that he usually made when he was trying to clear the tension in the air or feeling awkward. He was an extremely bad liar. 

Makoto glanced back very briefly. "I'm just worried about Haru."

"Haru?" You questioned. "Why's that?"

Sure, Haru wasn't exactly the type of person that you pictured to have definitive plans after high school but you expected him to have at least a basic idea. 

It wasn't like he wasn't ever prepared about anything, he always had an idea of what to do. Even if they were always simple to the point of just being a few words. 

"He keeps changing the subject every time I try to bring up college, it's really starting to get frustrating and I'm not sure what I should do."

_'For some reason, I feel insulted.'_

You shook your head and flashed him a smile. "I'm sure things will work out fine in the end. Sure, Haru doesn't have his plans set right now but the school year just started, give him a little more time and I'm sure he'll get it."

Wow, you were really starting to sound like a hypocrite right about now.

Of course, you were always a bit of a hypocrite but now that you were saying things out loud it was even more apparent. 

It was almost laughable how much your own words worked on you. Of all the people that should be giving advice on future plans you definitely weren't one of them. As someone that ran away at the mere mention of it, you weren't exactly the most qualified to talk about it.

Surprisingly, your advice sounded nice and surprisingly wise. It was something that you probably would've heard in some generic anime trying to be deep.

You would die if he found out how you got your less than perfect advice. All you were doing was repeating something you saw while reading up on your daily horoscope a few hours ago.

It wasn't too specific to give anyone too much hope but at the same time, it was just vague enough to comfort anyone that heard those words. 

"Thanks," he smiled. "I might be worrying about things a tad too much."

"Don't worry about it."

It wasn't like you really had too much room to talk, sure, you weren't thinking about the future too much but that was mostly due to the fact that you pushed away any conversation about it because of how nervous it made you feel. The reason why you didn't think about it was that you were so worried. 

That was certainly a rather hypocritical way to think. 

You let out a sigh before shaking your head. 

It was no time to be thinking about something like that, there were better and arguably more important things that you could think about. 

Though that was something that you were sure Miss Amakata would not agree with in the slightest. 

"By the way Makoto," you said catching the attention of the brunette. "The prefectural tournament is tomorrow, right?"

You had been focusing on everything going on in your own life that you haven't been able to stop and think about everything going on with everyone else. 

Ever since the school year has started you've struggled to keep up with all of your own extracurriculars forget about the swim club. 

"Yup," he said with a nod of his head. "I'm sure it'll go a lot better than last year's prefecs."

Ah, you were just cringing at the memories of the prefectural tournament from last year, it was certainly something that you weren't going to forget anytime soon. 

You let out a sigh as you inclined your head up as you looked distantly into the sky. "I'm sure that anything would be better than last year's prefectural tournament," you chuckled to yourself. 

At least you had one thing to look forward to after all this time. 

Things were getting a bit too stressful for you especially with how long practice has increased, it seemed to drag out for an hour or two more than usual.

You also couldn't help but feel your body ache at the mere thought of practice. Despite only being the manager you were convinced, though you viewed it more as forced, to help some of the members practice. 

It was at that moment when you kept on hitting the floor to try your hand at receives for the first time since probably junior high that you felt glad for quitting the sport. 

A tired sigh left your lips as you leaned back against the wall. 

Even thinking about it was starting to stress you out. 

Who would've thought that your third year of high school was going to be so stressful?

Shaking your head you turned back to the brunette with a smile. "Well, I'm not the best when it comes to giving advice but I just want to let you know that I'll definitely be cheering for the swim club."

He breathed out sighed laugh. "I- We'll definitely try and do you proud."

You simply gave him a slight nod. 

Well, that was a relief. 

It seemed that you, fortunately, didn't notice the small mistake that he quickly covered up with ease, it was smooth enough for you to not even notice he made a mistake. 

To you, it didn't even seem as if he spoke out of line with his small 'error' as he called it. 

You looked down with a smile. 

"I can't wait to see how you do."

* * *

"Rei, I'm really sorry for bothering you like this."

"It's alright, I didn't have much I had to do anyways."

The younger teen turned away from you as you flashed a smile at him, his cheek started to heat up as pink dusted across his cheeks. 

It was a small thing but crushing on someone wasn't nearly as quote-unquote normal as everyone has made it out to be. With the way that some people talk about it you would think that it was basically the same as a friendship but with different intentions. 

But nope. 

That was not at all how this felt. 

Every single song, movie, show wasn't anywhere near close to describing the feeling that he was feeling, especially when it was just the two of you.

While he would never admit this out loud, advice columns and so-called "psychics" were a hundred times more accurate in describing everything. Though their vagueness might've had something to do with that. 

He let out a sigh as he glanced down at you from the corner of his eye.

All he was doing was making himself look more an idiot the more he acted out of character. Luckily, you either didn't notice his odd behaviour or you were just ignoring it. 

It wasn't like his behaviour was too odd, well, at least it wasn't for you. 

Rei wasn't really what you'd consider a cool, calm, and collected individual for the most part. 

Sure, that could've been used to describe the younger teen when you first met him but that could not be any less true now. He was nowhere near that. 

No amount of first and second-year girls could ever change your mind about that no matter how hard they tried to make you think the opposite. 

You glanced back up at him and luckily for Rei, he was able to look away just before you could notice his eyes practically burning holes into you. 

All you did was simply tilt your head. "Is there something wrong Rei?"

The younger teen awkwardly froze at your words before stiffly looking back at you after much reluctance. That was definitely a mistake on his part. 

He couldn't help but feel like his face was on fire with how embarrassed he was starting to get with how focused you seemed to be on his face. 

A nervous gulp was taken as he pulled at the collar of his shirt, looking everywhere but you as he tried to calm himself down. He had to be honest, the feeling of your eyes on him wasn't exactly helping anything. 

He opened his mouth and was just about to say something when, "Hey, are you okay?"

You stopped him by simply pulling on the sleeve of his blazer and looking up at him, and that seemed to work a lot better than you had expected it to. 

To your surprise, he really stopped.

In fact, he seemed to actually be frozen in place. 

He quite literally was not moving a single muscle, it was as if his feet were glued to the cement sidewalk that the two of you were walking on. 

You looked at him in pure confusion. 

Did he zone out or something?

He wasn't saying a single word, you would've thought that he stopped breathing altogether if it wasn't for the fact that you were able to see his chest rising with each breath that he took. 

"-So if you want to walk home by yourself it's fine, my place is only a few minutes away now."

The younger teen blinked slowly in confusion as you turned away from him and made your way down the sidewalk. You barely gave him any time as you went on your way. 

After a few more slow seconds of blinking to himself and replaying the scene in his head, your words seemed to finally start registering with him. 

Before you knew it the second-year was already back by your side leaving you confused as you came to a sudden stop. You looked at him with complete shock before whipping your head back to look over your shoulder. 

Did he serious run all the way over here?

_'I get that he was a member of track but did he seriously have to run over here so quickly? Didn't I tell him it was fine for him to walk home by himself?'_

Feeling your eye twitch you took a deep breath before looking back at the flustered teen with pure confusion written all over your face. "R-Rei?"

"Yes!"

The blue-haired teen's face somehow started to burn an even deeper red as his shoulders stiffened at the tone of his voice. He didn't intend to come off as loud as he did but he still did.

He held back the surprisingly strong urge to hit himself over the head. 

The overwhelming nervousness he was feeling was only making him embarrass himself in front of you the more and more he tried not to. He was doing the complete opposite of what he was trying not to do. 

Of course, you had no idea about any of this.

In fact, you had no idea what was going on with the younger teen's strange behaviour, forget about suspecting it having to do with a crush of all things. 

All you knew was that he was acting weird, well, he was acting weirder than he usually was.

Sure, he tended to say and do things that were certainly... interesting and not what you'd expect out of someone that looked like him but this was on a whole other level. 

He was freaking out a lot more than he usually did when he was with Nagisa. That was saying quite a bit considering the number of outbursts you've seen from Rei in response to Nagisa. 

You tilted your head to the side as you narrowed your eyes, taking a better look at the first-year. 

Maybe he had a fever or something like that?

That could be the reason why he was acting so strange, after all, his face did seem to be rather red. It was out of place considering the weather wasn't that warm. 

You took a step forward and stood up on your tiptoes as you put your hand up to his forehead. "Do you have a fever or something like that?" You asked. 

It took a good few seconds before the blue-haired teen jolted up into his stiff posture causing you to pull your hand in surprise. 

There was definitely something going on. 

Who would've thought that the reason for his behaviour that you were so curious about was everything that you were doing in the first place?

No one said anything for a few seconds before the first-year turned on his heel and left your behind in only a few seconds. By the time you realized what he did he was already at least twenty feet away. 

"Wha- Rei!"

This wasn't at all what he had expected to happen when he offered to walk you home. No one told him that he was going to get flustered especially not as quickly and easily as he was. 

"Oh..."

By the time you caught up with him the two of you were somehow already at your house. That was certainly not something you were expecting. 

Was he seriously walking so fast that by the time that you caught up with him the two of you had gotten to your house? 

To say that the younger teen stressed you out would be a massive understatement. He confused you with almost every single thing that he did. 

"Anyways," you sighed out, your attempt to catch your breath was obvious. "I'll talk to you later Rei-"

Of course. 

Why weren't you surprised?

Just as you were about to say goodbye to the blue-haired teen you were interrupted by the front door flying open as a familiar, annoying person peeked out from the corner of the door. 

_'Is he an idiot or something?'_

He was just about to say something but before he could try you stopped him by immediately running to the door and kicking him away with a glare. 

"Stop being an idiot already!"

You pulled a 180 as you turned back to Rei with an innocent smile as if you didn't kick your older brother away with a look that probably killed him. 

The urge you were getting to slam the door was being held back. You really didn't want to embarrass yourself in front of your underclassman. 

"Anyways, I'll talk to you later Rei."

With that, you gently closed the door with a sigh. 

You barely let a few seconds pass before you turned to the older male with an annoyed look on your face. You were already more than confused and his interruption didn't help anything. 

"Why are you always like that you idiot?!"

"Huh?! What does that mean?" He was more confused than offended. 

All he did was open the door and before he could react to anything he was interrupted by you pushing him out of the doorway with a kick. 

Your eye twitched. You were starting to wonder if he was dense or an idiot, though the idea of him being both wasn't something that was too far off. 

"Nevermind, you're too stupid to understand what I mean anyways."

"What was that?!"

You tilted your head. "So on top of being an idiot, you're also deaf? That's nice to know."

"I-"


	42. 𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑹𝑻𝒀 𝑵𝑰𝑵𝑬 | 𝑵𝑶 𝑨𝑵𝑺𝑾𝑬𝑹𝑺

𝙒𝙀𝙇𝙇, 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙎 𝙒𝘼𝙎 𝘾𝙀𝙍𝙏𝘼𝙄𝙉𝙇𝙔 𝘼 𝘽𝙄𝙏 𝘼𝙒𝙆𝙒𝘼𝙍𝘿.

You didn't expect this to happen but at the same time, you weren't exactly surprised considering the level of conversation Haru was capable of. 

Even now he really couldn't be in a good conversation unless someone else was keeping it from drying out. He could've at least tried.

It was as if it was too much for him to even open his mouth to say more than a few words. You weren't terrible at talking and you were capable of holding up a conversation but it would be nice to hear him say more than a few words every time he opened his mouth. 

Glancing over at him from the corner of your eye you let out a sigh, it unfortunately turned out to come out a lot louder than you had expected it to be. Haru looked at you almost immediately and tilted his head. "Is everything alright?" He asked. 

You flinched. 

_'Did he really hear me?! I thought I was being quiet! Wasn't I being inconspicuous?!'_

Obviously you weren't inconspicuous in the slightest considering how quickly Haru called you out after you sighed. You reluctantly turned back to him, your motions were as robotic as ever. 

"Everything is extremely fine!" You reassured him with maybe a bit too much pep in your voice. 

He arched a brow at you.

There was definitely something that was off with you. 

He wasn't exactly what you'd call a people person or even someone that had anything close to the ability to read a person but you were being more than obvious. He'd have to be a complete idiot to not notice anything. 

But of course, you being you somehow couldn't figure that out as you continued to play dumb as you ignored how weird you were making yourself look in front of him. 

Despite thinking that you were looking more than normal as you pictured a normal smile on your lips it was the complete opposite. A multitude of different expression formed on your face in only a matter of seconds. 

As you continued to not so internally freak out over the less than serious set of events that have taken place Haru simply stared at you for a few seconds before chuckling fondly to himself. 

"Huh?"

You looked up at the taller teen and stared for a good few seconds before it started to sink in. 

Ah...

You were making weird faces again, weren't you?

It seemed as if something like that had to happen no matter how hard you tried to prevent it. The fact that even Haru of all people was able to tell was what really got to you. 

Were you really being that obvious?

You could already feel your cheeks burning in embarrassment. Of all the people in the world that you could've embarrassed yourself in front of it had to be him. 

It was an old crush that you were a hundred percent sure died out years ago but you couldn't help but feel even more embarrassed than you usually be when you did something stupid in front of him. Maybe it was just something that you wouldn't be able to get over completely. 

Whatever it was you didn't really care, all you really cared about was how stupid you made yourself look in front of him. 

It couldn't have been too bad, right?

You looked back down to your side almost immediately as you felt your thoughts that you would barely make any sense to the average person race through your head. To be completely honest, none of the things that you were thinking was anywhere near what was going throw Haru's head. 

Not in the slightest. 

In fact, it was actually funny how off you were with the hundreds of assumptions that you had on what he thought. All of which were just thoughts of looking stupid. 

Which, surprisingly just made him even more amused as you began to overthink the situation even more than you already were doing. 

A thin smile snaked it's way to his lips as he watched you in amusement. It only lasted for a few seconds before you looked at him from the corner of your eye. 

"Haru?" You asked as you tilted your head.

You could've sworn he was smiling. Well, at least you thought he was smiling but with Haru, you could never tell what he was going.

He was as expressive as a pile of rocks, it was nearly impossible to tell if there was even the slightest change in mood. It was as if it was impossible to have his blank expression leave his face. 

Looking away almost immediately he turned his head up to the sky before looking back at you. As one would've expected, the expression on his face was the exact same as usual. 

Maybe you were mistaken but at the same time, it wouldn't be the first time that Haru pretended to not to smile. You let out a smile before looking up at him with a smile. "So, how've you been Haru?"

"Hm?"

A nervous laugh left your lips. "I'm just curious since we haven't talked much lately."

You bounced with every step that you took. You had to admit that you were a tad too excited about talking to Haru after the lack of interaction you've had with him lately. 

It wasn't like you could really excuse yourself from your busy schedule because you wanted to talk to him. Especially, when it had to do with certain people that weren't the biggest fan of him. 

You would die before you'd ever tell Sousuke that you wanted to reschedule just because you haven't been able to talk to Haru lately.

He barely said anything but it was more than obvious to you that he didn't think highly about or at least, didn't think of the shorter teen in a positive light. 

"I guess we haven't, huh?" Haru turned his head up into the sky. 

Like most things that have been bothering him lately it was something that he tried to push to the side and not think about. But as with almost everything he was trying to forget there was always that lingering thought. 

"Yup," you nodded in excitement. He was actually saying something that was more than a simple sound of confirmation or denial. 

It caught you off guard. It wasn't something that you expected but it was definitely not something that you were going to pass up by any chance. 

"Though considering how busy school and our clubs have been with it being tournament season coming up it's not like it's too surprising,'" you laughed. 

Sure, it was a mediocre excuse but it was something that you were sure was more than enough to agree to. "So, how are things going-"

"What have you been doing exactly?"

Haru's words cut you off, catching you off guard far more than you had ever expected to get especially with how calm things seemed to be. Honestly, it was still calm, you were just freaking out at the smallest things. 

The taller teen simply tilted his head at you. 

While you were more concerned about him thinking you were weird with how you were acting he was more concerned than anything. It seemed to be a simple question in his mind, even if his intentions with his question wasn't as innocent as he would've liked to believe. 

You took a deep breath. "Outside of school and club activities I've actually been busy catching up with Sousuke." Despite knowing that you should've just shut up you went on. "You remember him, right?"

Silence. Neither of you knew what to say after what you said. 

The only thing that didn't force the two of you to walk in completely awkward silence was other people passing by. If it wasn't for that the only thing you would be your footsteps. 

You glanced up at him from the corner of your eye. You couldn't just let the silence go on for any longer but at the same time, you couldn't think of anything to say. 

A wave of deja vu hit you. It seemed that every single time that the two of you talked to each other when no one else was around to join in the conversation would die in only a matter of seconds. You couldn't really blame him, it wasn't like he was ever known for talking much but it didn't make things much easier. 

_'If I don't say anything then we're going to be walking together for ten more minutes in awkward silence. I can handle it right now but I'm not sure if I can put up with if for any more than a few seconds.' _

"So, Haru-"

The latter didn't even wait for you to say something as he casually put his hand your head and gave you a small pat on the head. It only lasted for a few seconds before retracted his hand and began to walk ahead of you. 

"Wha- Are you not even going to explain yourself?!"

You could feel your cheeks start to burn as you glared daggers into the back of the taller teen. His small action was enough to make you far more flustered than you thought was even possible. 

He always seemed to do those sort of things without any regard for how flustered it made you. Sure, it wasn't as if it was a big thing but you'd think he'd take the hint. It wasn't like you were doing all that much to hide it. 

With your cheeks burning you looked up with sigh before letting out a shocked gasp to see Haru already a good few feet away from you. It seemed as if he didn't stop for you while you glared. 

Shaking your head with far too much force that you should've you ran your way up to the taller teen, whining all the way might I add. 

Maybe you would've been less embarrassed if you realized that Haru was just as flustered if not more so than you but it wasn't like you would've noticed anyway. 

"So, have you talked to Rin lately?" He asked as he looked forward. He didn't even dare to even do as much as spare you a single glance. 

Being the extremely emotional crybaby that you are you probably would've cried if you were more annoyed than frustrated. You looked up at him and mustered up the sharpest glare that you could. 

Not like it really did all that much considering how puffy and red your face was looking with how hard you were trying to hold back your tears. You really were far too emotional, you seemed to want to cry at everything, even if you had no reason to. 

Haru looked at you from the corner of his eye before turning back away and covering his mouth as he stifled back a small laugh that surprised the both of you. 

You let out an offended gasp. 

The audacity was truly shocking. 

Not only did he not have the nerve to wait for you catch your breath nor the nerve to notice or at least acknowledge your embarrassment. If that wasn't bad enough he just casually talked about something else as if you were clearly annoyed. Well, clearly annoyed wouldn't be the best way to describe yourself but you weren't happy. 

While he could tell that you were somewhat annoyed he definitely didn't realize why you were annoyed. He assumed it was because he just left you behind for a good few seconds before you caught up with him. 

The idea of you being upset for getting you flustered over something as small as getting pat on the head was the furthest thing from his mind. 

Just as you own embarrassment from what just happened was on your mind it was the exact same with him. If it wasn't for his stone face then he would be glowing a deep red for sure. 

No doubt about it. 

It wasn't something that was really something he should've gotten embarrassed about. It was something that was extremely small and nothing to write home about but he couldn't help but get somewhat flustered the moment he looked back at you. 

"Are you going to say anything?" You asked in annoyance. 

Haru looked down at you. "Are you going to ask my question?" He tilted his head for a few seconds before looking away from you in faux innocence. 

"Wha-" you looked away with a huff. "Not really, I've been too busy to talk to anyone that much."

You looked up at Haru as you tilted your head. "Why?" You asked. "Do you need to talk to him or something like that? I'm sure you can talk to anytime you'd like."

He let out a soft sigh as he turned his head up, staring distantly into the sky. "Not really, I was just curious." 

Feeling your eyes on him he glanced at you from the corner of his eye and let out one more sigh. "Something that he told has just been on my mind for a while."

"Hm?" You hummed. "And what would that be?"

Deep blue eye glanced down at you from the corner of his eye as he let out a deep breath. He buried his hands in his pockets as he thought back to the maroon-haired teen. "Nothing important."

The conversation wasn't something that he wanted to think about, mostly due to the fact that he couldn't really argue against the captain's points. Well, at least nor argue against them with points that could combat his properly. 

Even with how much he didn't want to admit it, he had to admit that Rin had a point with everything he was saying. All he was doing was wasting time the longer he put everything off.

But despite that, he seemed to through all of his logic out the window. His logic was nowhere near as strong as his urge to keep the things the same. He glanced down at you, he really didn't want anything to change. 

Of course, there was a part of him that wanted to try and make things change, especially with how things have progressed for him but there was also the fear of things changing for the worse rather than the better.

Sure, he was never going to know if he never tried to do anything. Maybe if he took action for once things would change for the better for him but then again, things could change for the worse and ruin everything. 

It was better to not change and keep things good yet incomplete rather than change and loss everything. At least, that was how he thought about it. 

He couldn't ever say something like that though, it wasn't the best argument against something that could decide the rest of his life. 

It especially wasn't something he could ever bring up, not when he thought things were finally decent with you. It took years for the two of you to finally start talking again. Who knows what a change could do to that?

You let out a sigh as you looked up at him. "You can't just act all stoic like that and expect me not to want any answers?" You narrowed your eyes at him as a faint blush dusted your cheeks. 

Despite your words he continued to ignore you, giving you a single glance at most before looking away. You let out a shocked gasp at his not very surprising action. It was still quite rude in your mind. 

It was impossible to ever tell what he was thinking, well, it was more like you never really put much if any effort to read any of his thoughts but your point still stands. It was nearly impossible to have an actual conversation with someone that not only never talked or even let you tell what he wanted to say or do. 

Ugh. 

You thought you were finally able to talk to him but it seemed like the only thing that changed was the lack of tension between the two of you, if that even made a difference at all. 

"Are you just going to stare at me or...?"

Crap, you were doing it again. 

You let out obvious forced nervous laughter as you whipped your head up at him. "Ah! I wasn't going to say anything," your voice cracked at those words. 

Haru tilted his head. 

It was really amazing how terrible of a liar you were really were. He thought he was bad but you made him seem like the best actor in the world whenever you lied.

"I wasn't staring you jerk!"

"Of course you weren't."

Whatever, it wasn't like there was even much of a point in asking him to say anything it was clear to you that he wasn't going to give you any new information. 

You let out a sigh. "Anyways, if you want we can just go over to your place instead?"

Haru tilted his head. "Hm? What for?"

Ah, you didn't know how you were going to explain that. "Well, you see... I just thought it was a good idea!" You could already feel your cheeks start to burn. 

That explanation only made the dark-haired teen even more confused than he already was. "Are you going to explain why that would be a good idea?"

You shook your head. 

Now was no time to be acting all shy, all you had to do was get the words out and you could be done with it all. "It's not like there's really a point in me going home. Shintaro decided to hang out with some friends anyway, plus, it's not like you really have anything other than fried mackerel, right?"

"What's wrong with that?"

You shook your head. "Nothing! It's just that a change of pace would be nice, right?"

All you could do was smile at him while all you could do on the inside was scream with how awkward it was to try and do things with him when he questioned everything. 

"Sure."

A sigh of relief left your lips as your shoulders dropped. "That's a relief-"

Without even a second thought Haru opened his mouth with words that he most definitely said solely with the intention to annoy you. "I'm still just going to fry some mackerel though."

Your eye twitched as you ran your fingers through your hair, trying your very best to hold the urge that you held to say something less than pleasant. "Fine, 's not like I was expecting much in the first place."

At least the both of you could say you had one good experience out of all these frustrating questions.

* * *

"Hm?"

You blinked slowly as you slowly came to a stop, squinting as you leaned forward. You had to make sure you weren't seeing things before you did anything else. 

Was that Rin?

You tilted your head to the side. 

That was odd, as far as you were concerned he only came around every other weekend to visit his mom. It was strange to see him around especially on a school night.

"Rin?" You called out to him as you walked over to him. 

Said teen looked over his shoulder and turned away for a second as he took a deep breath before turning to face you. "Long time no see, [Y/N]." He waved at you with a small smile. 

You returned his smile with a small wave. "It's nice to see you but what are you doing all the way out here?" 

Feeling his eyes you flinched before giving him a nervous smile, waving your hands frantically in front of you. "I- Uh! If that's not a rude question to ask that is!"

Rin let out a deep breath as he buried his hands in his pockets. "It's nothing," he sighed out. 

Well, at least it was nice to know that he was still as terrible at lying as you. If there was anything that you were grateful for it was his lack of talent in the field of bending the truth. 

You rolled your eyes. "You might as well just tell me Rin. I already know you're not telling the full truth, we might as well just skip all of the convincing and go straight to the truth."

He tried his best not to look at you. If he didn't do that then maybe he wouldn't have to admit anything to you. 

Yeah, that didn't work in the slightest. 

There were no signs of you giving up anytime soon and knowing how you were you probably were going to complain even after he said something. 

He sighed. "Sousuke has just been..." He tilted his head as he racked his brain for a word to describe the feelings that he's been having lately. "... Different, I guess you could say?"

You arched a brow. "Different? How so?"

Rin ran his fingers through his hair before mussing it all up. "I think he's been hiding something. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, right?" He asked. 

A tired sigh left your lips. "Sorry, I don't really know anything."

His shoulders dropped in disappointment.

While he didn't really expect to get much from you he was hoping to hear at least something even if it was as small as him saying a certain word wrong. 

"But," you looked away for a few seconds before looking back at with a curious expression dressing your face. "If it helps, Sousuke's weird behaviour isn't really all that new?"

Rin blinked slowly. "It isn't?"

You shook your head softly before turning your head up to start distantly into the sky. "Nope." You said with a loud pop. "As far as I can recall, he started acting like that near the end of our first year of high school."

Rin let out a sound of annoyance as he kicked down at the sidewalk beneath his feet. That was just great to hear, the strange behaviour was something that has been going on longer than he thought. 

"Sorry that I can tell you anything new," you apologized. 

To be honest, you thought he found a solution to whatever problem he was dealing with, but after hearing the news from Rin it was obvious that wasn't the case. 

"Hopefully, things turn out for the better," you smiled nervously. 

That was really all that you could really do. 

What else were you supposed to?

Actually, confront Sousuke about his behaviour?

Nope, you couldn't bring yourself to do something like that. Confrontation with Sousuke of all people never went well. It only resulted in arguments that you couldn't seem to win. 

Sure, you could always try and see if there were any changes with him but considering what happened the last time you pushed him to talk to you it wasn't the first thing you wanted to do. 

You let out a soft sigh as you looked up at Rin with a small smile. "Hopefully everything turns out well, but if you'd like I can talk to him myself."

Ugh, you held back the urge that you were feeling to cringe back. It wasn't something that you wanted to do but hey, if you wanted to deal with everything stressing you out you might as well start with what you've been avoiding for so long.


	43. 𝑭𝑶𝑼𝑹𝑻𝒀 | 𝑶𝑵𝑬 𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑷 𝑭𝑶𝑹𝑾𝑨𝑹𝑫, 𝑻𝑾𝑶 𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑷𝑺 𝑩𝑨𝑪𝑲

"𝙎𝙊𝙐𝙎𝙐𝙆𝙀_**!"**_ 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙔𝙀𝙇𝙇𝙀𝘿 𝙊𝙐𝙏 𝙏𝙊 𝙎𝘼𝙄𝘿 𝙏𝙀𝙀𝙉 𝙄𝙉 𝙀𝙓𝘾𝙄𝙏𝙀𝙈𝙀𝙉𝙏 𝘼𝙎 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙍𝘼𝙉 𝙐𝙋 𝙏𝙊 𝙃𝙄𝙈. _**"**_𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙉𝙆 𝙂𝙊𝙊𝘿𝙉𝙀𝙎𝙎, 𝙄 𝙏𝙃𝙊𝙐𝙂𝙃𝙏 𝙄'𝘿 𝙉𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍 𝘽𝙀 𝘼𝘽𝙇𝙀 𝙏𝙊 𝘾𝘼𝙏𝘾𝙃 𝙐𝙋 𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙃 𝙔𝙊𝙐._**"**_

Despite your initial thoughts of concern over contacting Sousuke, you managed to find him quicker than you thought after getting a call from Kou. 

Apparently while leaving the station she saw Sousuke leaving as well. She thought that you knew something about it considering your "relationship". 

It was certainly a relief to you and definitely something that helped you along the way quite a bit. This way you didn't need to worry with trying to get a hold of him. 

Getting a hold of Sousuke of all people seemed to be something that was nearly impossible. It was almost always him that got in contact with you, almost never the other way around. To say you were excited with the outcomes that came with running out to the station would be a definite understatement. 

You looked up at Sousuke with a small smile as you took a deep breath. "Sorry for surprising you like that." 

Sousuke gave you a small wave as he let out a small laugh. "It's alright, I was kinda stuck in my head anyway." He tilted his head to the side. "Anyway, How've you been?"

"I'm fine," you smiled. "But that's really something I should be asking you, right?"

He blinked slowly. "What do you mean by that?"

Despite his question he had a feeling about what you meant by your words. Neither you nor Rin was good liars, the both of you read like an open book. 

The moment Rin came back to the dorms late last night he could tell that he did something that he was nervous about and the moment you looked up at him the eagerness in your eyes was obvious. The two of you had to have talked about something together, most likely himself. 

You looked away nervously as you rocked back and forth on your heels. Clasping your hands together you squeezed them as you found yourself swallowing back saliva at every attempt to speak. 

Confrontation was always something that you tried your very best to avoid.

Despite popular belief, you weren't the most confident of individuals or the type of person that could say what they wanted whenever they wanted with complete confidence, in fact, you were the complete opposite. 

The mere idea of talking to someone about something they so clearly were avoiding sent chills down your spine. If someone didn't want to talk about it and you touched and prodded them to talk to you it almost always ended with them raising their voice. 

You glanced back at Sousuke to find teal eyes looking at your curiously, his brow was arched, mostly likely due to the silence on your end. 

It was stupid to get so nervous over something as small as a simple, extremely vague question. But then again, it wasn't as if you didn't have a reason to be that way, especially when it came to Sousuke. 

After all, the last time you tried to confront Sousuke about something that he avoided talking to you about it ended up with him dumping you on your birthday. 

You cringed at the thought. 

Ah, isn't that just great, you just made yourself even more nervous than you were before. All you were doing was trying to hype yourself up but all you did was make it even more difficult for you to speak up and say something. 

_'Crap, that didn't help at all. Now it's going to be even more difficult to ask him about it. Why am I such as idiot? Couldn't I have thought about something else?'_

"[Y/N]?" He called out. "Are you alright or...?"

Blinking, you looked up quickly, a nervous smile curling up onto your lips as you folded your hands together behind your back. A nervous laugh left your lips. 

It was time to actually say something before the awkward silence returned again. You squeezed your eyes shut for a second as you took a deep breath. 

"Do you need to sit down-"

"Just what is going on with you?"

He blinked slowly as he began to take in your words. 

They were exactly what he had expected but he still couldn't help but feel nervous. It wasn't exactly something that he wanted to talk about but at the same time if he said he didn't want to talk about it and avoided it as best as he could it would only make you even more suspicious. 

All lying or bending the truth would do was make things even more difficult for him than they already were. A sigh left his lips as he grabbed the back of his head, looking away from you. "It's not a big deal, really."

You pursed your lips and arched a brow as you looked him up and down. He was an absolutely terrible liar when he was really trying to hiding something that you brought up.

He usually was a good liar, being able to convince you otherwise whenever you had the feeling that something was up with him.

It was clear that wasn't the case now. There was definitely something that was off about him and there was no way you were going to let him off easy now that you had him when you wanted him. 

Sousuke's eye twitched. He really couldn't get out of it now, you definitely knew he was hiding something and you weren't going to let him just push it to the side like he usually did. 

All he could do was continue to avoid your gaze as he looked everywhere from the ground to the sky to side to side, anywhere other than you were fine. 

"Well?" You asked. "Are you going to say anything or are you just going to stand around looking an overgrown weed?"

Sousuke flinched at your surprisingly harsh words. "Wha- Since when have you been this rude?"

It was a new experience, to say the least. As far as he was aware you weren't exactly the type of person that was ever outwardly rude to anyone. 

You gave him an annoyed look. "I'm the same as I'm always am, you're just annoying me with how you're avoiding answering my question." You looked him up and down as you placed a hand on your hip. "If you're going to avoid answering me you could at least do a good job at doing it."

He had to say something now. 

You looked him up and down. There was no way you were going to be a pushover and let him go easily after everything, it was clear to you that it was a bigger issue than you initially thought. 

"Um..." He turned away from you, he could already feel himself shrink under your gaze. It was obvious that you weren't going to stop until he actually talked to you. 

"Do you not trust me or something?"

It was a feeling that you couldn't help but get as you watched him hesitate to say anything to you. Despite your feelings, you were more than sure that wasn't the case. 

You knew that it wasn't an issue of trust, it was of a personal issue with him. Despite knowing that, there was still a part of you that couldn't help but take it personally. 

He let out a deep sigh. "It's not that, I promise."

Looking up at him, you took a deep breath as a disappointed looked formed on your face. You barely prodded him for ten minutes and you were already shut down completely. 

Sousuke glanced at you from the corner of his eye as he buried his hands in his pocket. The least that he could do was at least try to explain things.

It was something that he needed to try his hand at if he ever wanted to try and make things work. Keeping things to himself was what ruined things between the two of you in the first place after all. 

"This probably won't make you feel any better," you looked up at him as his voice cut into the deep silence. "But if it helps, I promise to come clean soon."

You blinked slowly. 

Sousuke sighed as he looked away from you. "Look, I told you it probably wasn't going to really make you feel any better-"

"What do you mean?" You asked. 

You were doing all that you could do to hold back your excitement as to not annoy the taller teen. It wasn't exactly what most people would've wanted to hear but coming from someone like Sousuke of all people that was the best thing he could've said. 

It wasn't as if he never came clean about his issues. He just kept things to himself until he felt that he wanted or had to talk to someone. If someone told you that Sousuke made the agreement to talk about something after you tried to convince him you would've called them a liar straight to their face. 

He blinked in confusion. "Well, I thought you'd be upset for not telling you anything."

You simply shook your head as you smiled up at him. "Don't be ridiculous," you laughed, waving off his concerns. "Sure, I'm a bit frustrated but I'm glad you actually agreed to say something. I never thought you'd agree to do something like that, I thought the world would fall apart before you'd ever agreed to talk to someone."

Sousuke arched a brow as he glanced to the side. "What is that suppose to mean?"

All you could do was look at Sousuke with a questioning look. It was clear to anyone that knew Sousuke that he wasn't the type to talk to people. The fact that wasn't aware of that was a bit concerning, to say the least, you'd think someone that was good a reading people would be able to do the same with himself. 

You let out a sigh, dropping your head before turning your head up to look at the taller teen with a tired look on your face. "Why do you always have to be so dense?" You cried. 

"Wha-"

"Don't act all naive, you've been like this forever." You looked up at him as you furrowed your brow. "You're always like this, whenever something has to do with you, you act like a complete idiot."

He flinched at the bluntness of your words. "Would it kill you to at least try to mince your words sometimes?"

Maybe it was because he wasn't exactly used to you being this... blunt but it was certainly something that was catching him off guard. Of course, he had been on your bad side before but you were never as blunt as you were being right now. 

"It would kill me to be nicer to you," you said as you turned on your heels. "Maybe I'll be a lot nicer if you stopped being an idiot and actually talked to Rin for once."

Sure, you wanted to hear what was wrong yourself but if he was going to finally talk to someone you really didn't care who he talked to. As long as it helped clear things up it didn't really matter all that much in your head. 

"Plus," you glanced over to him as a smirk snaked its way onto your lips. "Maybe if you finally talked to someone maybe you'd be more enjoyable to be around."

His eye twitched. "Wow, aren't you being an angel today?"

"I try."

* * *

All the two could do was watch in confusion as you stared distantly at the counter in front of you. For the past few minutes you've been wiping up the same area to the point that it wouldn't be too shocking if they found out you somehow dented it with how much time you spent on it. 

The two glanced at each other from the corner of their eye as they let out a sigh in unison. You seemed to be in one of your infamous moods that came up every once in a while. 

You weren't exactly "moody" to put it lightly, it was more that you dozed off and basically ignored everyone around you as you internally panicked. To put it in simpler terms you were simply procrastinating and letting it get in the way of work and school. 

Well, isn't that just lovely?

The taller of the two teens walked over to the counter as he took a seat directly in front of you. He glanced down at the counter and then back at you a few times before resting his elbow on the more than clean counter. "Um..."

He muttered under his breath as he waved his hand in front of your face only to get no response from you. A less than family-friendly word left his lips. 

Maybe he could try again. 

There was a chance that his words would've broken through if he tried once more... That is if he even bothered to say something else. Suffice to say he didn't say anything else as he looked over his shoulder and shot the brunette a blank look. 

Kenji's jaw dropped at the dark-haired teen. He's been friends with the vice-captain since before he can remember but he's also liked having people deal with everything for longer than he can remember. 

_'Well? Are you coming over or not?'_ Akihito gave the brunette a pointed look as he motioned for him to come over to him. There was no way he was going to deal with you all by himself. 

The shorter of the two narrowed his eyes as he glared back at him. _'What? Why would I do something like that? You're already over there, deal with it yourself.'_

_'Dude. You're quite literally seven feet away from me right now.'_

Akihito glared back at the brunette as he held back words and his want to let out a huff of air in frustration. He ran his hands down his face, mumbling less than positive words into his hands. 

He took a deep breath as he looked down at his feet for a few seconds. Just as he was going to turn back to you he came up with an idea, one that he was sure was going to be beneficial for everyone. It was going to help you, him, and Kenji (at least that's what he thought in his head).

Without waiting for another second to pass he ran over to the brunette and wrapped his hand around his wrist. The shorter of the two wasn't even given enough time before he roughly pulled out of his seat. 

"Is there something wrong with you?" He glared daggers into his friend that simply ignored as he returned to his seat in front of you. 

The fact that you didn't notice him or even move while all of that was going on only made him more convinced he was making a good decision with his plan. He was sure that it was going to work perfectly, you and Kenji were too <s>stupi-</s> stubborn to take matters into your own hands. 

He smiled up at you as he rest his head in his hands and ignored the fuming brunette beside him. The words that he was just saying in his head could be heard but he continued to ignore him. 

Kenji's eye twitched as he watched the third-year continue to ignore him. An annoyed sigh left his lips as he finally relented, taking a seat next to him. It was impossible to win against him, he wasn't sure why but whenever Akihito put his mind to something it was impossible to argue with him. 

Well, at least it was impossible to argue with him and win in the end. 

"[N/N]!" 

You looked up immediately, dropping the rag in your hands at the sound of his voice finally breaking through to you. "Huh?" You blinked slowly before looking at him with a surprised look on your face. 

"Uh..." You tilted your head. "How long have you been there?"

He couldn't have been there for too long, right?

Akihito gave you a dejected look as his shoulders dropped along with the excited look on his face. Despite the change in demeanour with him you told yourself that he had to have just come in. 

Sure, you had a bit too many things on your mind on the moment but you were sure you could've noticed when someone came in, especially if they sat down right in front of you.

With a nervous smile on your face, you folded your hands together and opened your mouth. The words that you spoke came out far more stiff than you would've hoped. "You haven't been in here for long, right?"

Kenji arched a brow at you as he leaned into his hand. "Did you really not notice up coming in?" He asked. "We've been in here for like an hour already."

Your jaw dropped at his words, burying your face in your hands as you let out a frustrated groan. "I'm such an idiot..."

The brunette simply rolled his eyes at you. "I mean, we been knowing that but that's not really the point we want to get to so..."

Feeling your eye twitch you shot the brunette a sharp glare that he just ignored as he looked away. The nonchalant look on his face just made you glare even more despite the fact that he probably wasn't seeing any of it. 

You let out a sigh as you once more buried your face in your hands. 

Whether you wanted to admit it or not, you were taking things way too seriously, it wasn't really all that out of character coming from someone like you of all people but at the same time, it was different. The fact that you've barely been paying attention to anything else, giving all of your attention to everyone else was a sign of that.

Of course, you did that even before you started your third year but ever since the year has started you've been doing it a lot more to the point of it being questionable. No one really had an issue with it per se, it was more of the fact that you've been more obvious than ever before. 

It was to the point that no one could avoid noticing it. 

"Fine," you relented before any of them could say anything else to you. There wasn't really any point in acting like there was nothing wrong with you. 

Ignoring the fact that you were a terrible liar, just the thought needing to listen to them go on and on was already stressing you out. 

They both blinked slowly as they glanced at each other from the corner of their eye. "Fine...?"

Your eye twitched. "Fine, I'll talk to you two," you huffed out as you walked around the counter over to a nearby table. "That is what you guys wanted, right?"

"Uh..."

A hand slammed down on Kenji's back as Akihito stood up, laughing awkwardly as he pushed the brunette up. "My! Why don't you look at the time, I should really get going. I promised my mom I'd be home early to help out with dinner."

"Wha-"

Kenji could only watch in shock at the dark-haired teen simply walked over to the door, leaving him behind to lament in his betrayal. Of course this happened. 

He really should've expected something like this was going to happen. It was Akihito of all people, the idea of him not trying to "help him and you" was a bit too hard to believe. Even if it was something that he was really hoping would've hoped for happening at least once. 

A sigh left his lips as the two of you fell into an awkward silence, all that could be heard was the sound of your fingers tapping against the table. 

Neither of you looked at each other, immediately looking away the moment you locked eyes with each other. To say it wasn't going as well as Akihito was expecting it to go would be an understatement. 

The two of you have known each other for a while but it was still awkward talking about things that were bothering you. If you were being completely honest just thinking about them was something you tried your best to avoid, forget talking to someone about them. 

You let out a long sigh as you leaned back into your seat, stretching your arms above your head as you looked up at the ceiling with a distant look on your face. Might as well same something already, not reason in keeping the silence awkward for much longer. 

"So..." You looked around the room before finally laying your eyes on the brunette. "Things have certainly been... different lately, haven't they?"

He let out a sigh as you glanced up at him, strands of your hair blocking your view. "I guess they have, though it's a lot more annoying than stressful to me."

With everything that was going on he never really brought up how he was feeling, and to be honest it was mostly because it wasn't that big a deal in his eyes. Sure, he was having problems thinking about his plans but it was more annoying having people cancel on his due to "thinking things over". 

It sounded insensitive but he couldn't help it, the fact that you probably would've yelled at him for far longer than he would've wanted to deal with was probably what made him hold back his thoughts.

"Yeah," you sighed out. 

Nervous laughter left your lips as you looked up at him with a small smile curled up onto your lips. "I miss when we were younger, don't you?" 

He shrugged his shoulders. "I guess so."

"Oh! Do you remember that old promise we made back in primary school?"

A reluctant sigh left his lips as he looked away from you. He could already feel himself shrink under your gaze as he listened to the words that came out of your mouth. Against his better judgement, he made the decision to speak despite every logical part of him telling himself to shut up. 

"Do you mean when we said that we'd..." He cringed into his seat. "Get married?"

Ugh, just saying those words made him cringe far more than he ever thought was humanly possible. It wasn't something he ever thought he'd willingly bring up again. Maybe you were just trying to come up with an icebreaker, it wasn't a good one in the slightest but it was something.

As one would've assumed, the awkward silence quickly returned. 

Both of you avoided eye contact with each other. You let out a deep sigh in unison as your shoulders dropped, a disappointed look on your face. 

'**_This is unbelievably awkward...'_**

It was obvious to him that things between the two of you weren't going to go as smoothly as he wanted, at least not any time soon. Maybe he really was as much of an idiot as Akihito made him out to be, with how badly he was making things that appeared to be the case. 

He let out a sigh. 

Whether he wanted to or not, he had to do something soon. 


	44. 𝑭𝑶𝑹𝑻𝒀 𝑶𝑵𝑬 | "𝑱𝑼𝑺𝑻 𝑭𝑹𝑰𝑬𝑵𝑫𝑺"

𝙒𝙃𝙊 𝙒𝙊𝙐𝙇𝘿'𝙑𝙀 𝙏𝙃𝙊𝙐𝙂𝙃𝙏 𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙏 𝙃𝙄𝙏𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙎𝙊𝙈𝙀𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝙄𝙉 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙁𝘼𝘾𝙀 𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙃 𝘼 𝙑𝙊𝙇𝙇𝙀𝙔𝘽𝘼𝙇𝙇 𝙒𝙊𝙐𝙇𝘿 𝘽𝙀 𝙎𝙊 𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙍𝘼𝙋𝙀𝙐𝙏𝙄𝘾? 

Not you, that's for sure. 

The brunette stood up almost immediately, picking up the very thing that knocked him to the ground in the first place in a grip that you were sure would've popped it. "What was that for?!"

All you could do was give him a blank stare for a good few seconds before looking away as if he didn't say a single word to you. 

"Wha-"

Kenji looked at you in disbelief as you started to walk away from him. You ignored everything he was saying as you just walked away. You either were just ignoring him on purpose or you genuinely didn't hear him. 

Truth be told, the former seemed to be the most likely scenario coming from you of all people. 

You let out an annoyed sigh, letting your hands fall down your face slowly before you reluctantly turned on your heels with heavy movements. 

Despite being the one that was responsible for the 'assault', you were the one who was the most annoyed, much to Kenji's shocked annoyance. 

His eye twitched as he narrowed his eyes at you. Tapping his feet against the floor he glared daggers at you which you continued to ignore much to his chagrin. "How are you the one in the wrong yet you're the one who's annoyed?!"

All you did was simply blink before letting out a deep breath and looking away. You turned your head up at the ceiling as you tried to act like the brunette didn't look like he was about to pop a blood vessel. 

It was impossible to ignore him though, the fact that he could keep glaring at you longer than wall sits was really starting to concern you. Feeling awkward you glanced at him from the corner of your eye as a nervous smile curled on your lips. 

There was really no point in ignoring him for that much longer. 

"What?" You asked, giving him a completely blank stare. 

Just seeing the look on your face the brunette couldn't help but feel awkward. The fact that he was feeling at fault when you were the one responsible for what was happening was just starting to be confusing to him. 

He shook his head as he took notice of the annoyed yet bored look on your face once again. "What do you mean 'what'? You''re the one who hit me in the first place!"

You looked away, awkwardly glancing away from him as you whistled lowly and buried your hands in your pockets. If you ignore him for long enough he'd probably go away. 

_'Is she still ignoring me?!'_

Kenji's eye twitched as he focused his eyes onto to you for a few more seconds before he let out a tired sigh. A hand brushed through his hair as he let his shoulders drop. It was nearly impossible to get anything through to you, it was like talking to a brick wall... that wasn't even there in the first place. 

"Anyway," he sighed out as he placed a hand on his hip. "Have you finished your planned future form yet? Miss A-"

Without giving him another second to get another word in you perked up with forced enthusiasm that anyone could see from a mile away. "Well! Why don't you look at the time?!"

"Hm?" He arched a brow as he looked around. "Are you okay?"

You forced an awkward and stiff smile as you swung your arms back and forth. The stiffness in your movements was painfully awkward just to see, forget doing it yourself. "Of course I'm fine! Why would you ask something like that?"

"The fact that you randomly yelled and look like you're trying your hand at your best impression of Conrad Veidt* is kinda telling."

You flinched at his words as you whipped your head up to look at the captain with a look of shock a tad bit of offence, maybe a bit more than a tad. You looked at him in complete offence, specifically with his choice of wording. "That's unbelievably rude! Can't you be nicer?" 

"Hm? Can't _**you**_ be a bit nicer?" He asked. 

There were moments when you praised him non stop with how smart he was sometimes and sometimes that he said something that was actually logical. This was not one of those times. 

Hearing those words made you honestly question if he was actually a decent student in the first place or not. The thought of him being a good student when he used elementary school level comebacks that weren't even done well. In fact, it sounded like he was reading words off of a script. 

"Is that really the best that you could come up with?"

"Wha- Just what's wrong with that?" He retorted. 

"Nothing..." You looked away while keeping your eyes on him. "It's just a basic comeback that has as much of an impact as a pebble being thrown against a brick wall."

His eye twitched at your words. "Just what is with you and your weird comparisons?!"

"What's with you and comparing me to a random actor that died in the forties?!" You huffed as you turned away from him, not bothering to give him another look. 

"I wouldn't need to if-"

A loud clap interrupted the two of you as the both of you turned your head at the interruption. "There, their lovebirds, flirt with each other some other time."

You blinked slowly at the taller teen in front of you as you felt the heat rise to your cheeks. His words began to sink in as you cheeks burned more and more. Far more than you thought they ever could. 

"Don't say that!" The two of you said in unison. 

All the third year could do was give the two of you a deadpanned expression before rolling his eyes in annoyance. "Anyways..." He sighed out. "[N/N], have you finished your future plans form?"

You froze at his words. Stiffly looking away to the side you felt awkward at the eyes burning holes into you. "Uh..."

His eye twitched as he watched your eyes dart to every single corner of the room without even daring to spare him a single glance. "Are you serious?!"

Flinching you turned to him with a shocked look on your face. "Huh? What is it?' You asked. The fake surprise in your voice was obvious to anyone that heard the words leave your lips. 

The brunette next to you look you up and down as you stiffly moved around, the awkwardness that you were presenting was far more laughable than he ever thought was possible. 

"Have you still not filled it out?!"

You awkwardly laughed as you grabbed the back of your neck, glancing at him from the corner of your eye before quickly looking away. "Well, you see..."

The dark-haired teen buried his face in his hands and let out a tired groan. "I can't believe you're actually class rep when you can't even do basic work like this..."

Glancing over at you from the corner of his eye Kenji brought a hand up to his mouth as he stifled his laughter. 

It didn't go unnoticed as the shorter teen turned to him with a glare. Somehow, he was able to narrow his eyes even more than he already was. "It's not like you really have much room to judge Shimura."

He flinched at the black-haired teen's cutting tone of voice, stiffly turning away as he followed what you were doing and looked down at the floor. 

An annoyed sigh left his lips as he dropped his hands to his side. "Anyway," he turned to look at you. "[N/N], please remember to get it done, it's a bad look for the class rep not having everything together."

Taking a deep breath you stood up straight as you flashed an overly cheesy smile at him. "Don't worry about it Enji, I've got it all under control. You trust me, don't you?" You finished, 'innocently' batting your eyelashes. 

He simply blinked with a deadpanned look on his face. "The last time I trusted you we ended up breaking into private property and running away from the cops."

Ahahah...

Turns out, unsurprisingly, you're not exactly the best at reassuring people when you're under a certain amount of pressure. Isn't that a surprise?

No, it wasn't. 

It wasn't in the slightest, the lack of talent you had when it came to reassuring people while under a certain type of pressure that you were absolutely terrible at handling. 

Enji's eye twitched as he watched your awkward and frankly terrible attempt at trying to reassure him that you had things under control. It was almost insulting that you thought that your stiff smile was enough to make him relax about how terrible things were going with you. 

"That isn't helping me feel relieved in the slightest," he deadpanned. "If anything, it's just making me feel even more stressed than I was in the first place."

You stuttered and mumbled all over the place before you could get anything out. "Well, just what are you doing here in the first place?!" 

As you said those words you could already feel your cheeks start to burn. 

"Hm?" He hummed. "Miss A asked for you."

You froze in place at those words. It didn't take long before you went back to 'normal' and flashed him the usual smile that you gave everyone. "Is that so? Well, I might need to take a raincheck-"

Before you could say anything else you let out a surprised yelp as you felt yourself getting pulled backwards. 

Of course, that was exactly what was happening. 

Looking up you weren't all that surprised to see Enji pulling you towards the door by the collar of your shirt while Kenji just watched at the sight that was surprisingly not something that was too surprising to him. 

"Why does this have to happen every time?" You groaned into your hands. 

"It wouldn't have to happen if you listened for once."

* * *

The meeting wasn't something that you would describe as being amazing or a disaster, it wasn't even something that you would describe as decent. It was just 'eh', there was nothing too interesting about it. 

It went exactly as you expected it to be, it was an overview of hardly new information and concerns that you were all too familiar with. 

You didn't want to seem rude or anything but it was a bit tiring hearing someone tell you how concerned they were about you not having your plans set yet but it just wasn't something that you could think about. 

Well, to be honest, it was like you didn't want to bother thinking about it in the slightest. You could think about it if you wanted to but all that came to mind was how stressed it made you feel. 

Miss Amakata meant well with her intentions but you couldn't help but feel like every single time you talked to her you were getting more and more stressed. It was a tiring thing to deal with, it wasn't like you could a teacher that she's stressing you out straight to her face, right?

You were repeating the encounter as if it had happened a few minutes ago. Everything she said was something that you've heard a million times over but this time it seemed to stick far more than they ever have before. 

Taking a deep breath, you ran your fingers through your hair, looking up at the sky with a tired look on your face. Just thinking about it was making you tired. 

Who would've thought Miss Amakata of all people would make you feel as stressed and tired as you were?

You certainly never expected her to ever get anything other than the usual cut-and-dried excuse than you used with everyone else that asked you the exact same questions. 

Just when you thought you were going to be able to get through the rest of the year bullshitting she had to pull the breaks on you and bring you back to reality. It wasn't something that you were exactly all too happy about, even if you didn't really show that to anyone on the outside. 

You shook your head as you brought your hands up to your cheeks for a split seconds before roughly slapping both sides of your face leaving behind imprints of your hands on your cheeks. "That's it! No more moping, you-"

"Do you like hitting yourself or something?"

The sound of the familiar voice cutting you off caused you to feel a chill go down your spine as you jumped at least a good foot in the air before whipping your head around to look at the other third year. The fact that you didn't get whiplash from just looking over your shoulder was astonishing, just the sight of it was enough for someone to say 'ow'. 

"What is i-" You deflated at the sight of the person behind you. "Oh, it's just you, Haru."

"It's nice to know how welcome I am."

At least you could still depend on Haru when things seemed to be a little too much for you to handle by yourself. Oh, how you wished you could've been able to handle things as well as Haru seemed to. 

Seeing someone like Haru be calm about everything was both something that was admirable and annoying at the same. It was nice that he wasn't stressed, but at the same time, it was frustrating how he seemed to not be bothered by anything that was happening. 

He tilted his head as he narrowed them slightly in confusion. "Are you just going to glare at me and not say anything?"

You blinked slowly before you finally came back to earth. "Sorry about that," you apologized. "I guess I just spaced out again," you looked away from him as you mumbled your next few words. "That seems to be happening a lot nowadays..."

Maybe it wouldn't hurt to ask him, right?

"Hey, Haru?"

"What is it?" He asked as he came to a stop and turned back to face you. "Is something wrong?"

"No! I mean-" You looked away as you pondered on that for a few more seconds. "Kinda, I guess? But not really at the same time, y'know?"

He arched a brow at you as he buried a hand in his pocket. "Not really, you're not exactly what I would call good at describing things, not in the slightest."

You flinched at his... blunt wording. "You're also as rude with the way that you phrase thing that you usually are, that's really comforting, I guess..."

Oh well, no use putting much thought into the past. All that mattered to you was 'the future', even if you just wanted the advice so you could use it to help you avoid any talk about the future as much as possible. 

It took a few more seconds and another deep breath before you were finally able to shove your question out of your lips. "Do you have your plans for what you're going to do when high school just becomes another memory?"

A deep silence filled the air between the two of you until it felt suffocating. It was as if even opening your mouth to speak was a strenuous task. 

"Sorry," you laughed to yourself as you kicked at the ground beneath your feet. "That was a bit too overdramatic, wasn't it? I guess I need to dial it back a little, huh?"

"Do you have anything planned?" He asked back. 

You blinked slowly before turning your head down to look at the ground as the two of you started walking again. It was a question that you were expecting to get, after all, you asked the same question only moments before. It was only natural that you were going to get that question asked to yourself. 

"Hm... Do I have any plans?" You hummed to yourself. 

Despite popular belief, you actually did have plans for what you were going to do after graduation. You had plans for the future, you just didn't have plans for _your future_. 

To be perfectly honest, you weren't even completely sure if you even _wanted_ to make plans about the future. There was just something about 

"I was just planning to go to college, going to school overseas is probably my top decision at the moment if I don't figure anything else out."

Next, the sound of your footsteps soon became the only thing that you could hear. You could barely hear Haru's anymore, it was as if he was barely moving if at all. 

You looked over your shoulder at the taller third year. "Is there something wrong, Haru?"

He seemed to not even hear you the first time you called out his name. It took a few more attempts of calling out his name and waving your hand in front of his face for him to take notice of you. "Huh?"

Despite your attempts of trying to get his attention for a good few seconds, it seemed like he didn't notice any of your attempts. 

You let out a tired sigh as you put a hand on your hip and turning your head up at the sky. "I know what I said was a bit melodramatic but was it really enough to make you space out like that?"

He looked away before glancing back at you from the corner of your eye. "It's nothing," he sighed out. "So, you're planning to move overseas after graduation, huh?"

Despite his attempt to sound unaffected by your words, his failed nonchalance was enough to make you repeat his words in your head. 

If you weren't mistaken, he seemed to be surprised and the tone of his voice seemed to have a small hint of hurt that you weren't completely sure was there. Maybe you were just being hopeful but you could swear there was something different with the tone of his voice, even if it was only for a split second. 

"Haru, is everything alrigh-"

"[Y/N]!"

Before you could ask Haru what was wrong a familiar voice interrupted you, causing the both of you to look over your shoulder to see someone that the two of you had rather contrasting opinions on. 

The third-year vice-captain didn't exactly 'hate' Kisumi per se, but he wouldn't exactly be the first person to call the pink-haired teen his best friend or even friend in general. 

Sure, it was petty but there was just something about him that seemed to irk him beyond belief. The fact that he made him jealous of all things didn't really help matters. 

"Oh! Hey Kisumi!"

You turned around and waved at the taller teen with an excited smile curling up on your lips as it became bigger and bigger by the second. Kisumi's appearance was something that you were far more excited about than you really should've been. 

It seemed that almost every single time that you and Haru were alone it became unbelievably awkward. Though, you had to admit that running away whenever you had the chance to certainly didn't help things. 

Before you could take another step you shook your face and looked over your shoulder with a small smile. "Sorry," you apologized with a slight bow of your head. "We can talk later, alright?"

"Sure..."

Your face brightened at his response as you walked over to Kisumi, not noticing the disappointed look in the blue-eyed on the teen's face. Though it might've been for the best that you didn't see anything, you probably wouldn't know how to react to the jealousy in his eyes if you saw it. 

* * *

"I feel like you purposefully do stuff like that."

The pink-haired teen looked down at you with a confused look on his face. It was so obviously fake but when was he never being fake about things when you asked him questions?

"What is that supposed to mean?" He asked as he tilted his head to the side. 

A small grin snaked it's way to your lips as you let out a soft sigh. You would never admit it out loud but it'd be a lie if you didn't think that he was cute whenever he was confused. Well, at least whenever he pretended to be confused for the hell of it. 

"Nothing, nothing," you giggled softly to yourself. "I just thought you'd stop bothering Haru after the first hundred times of him glaring at you."

You were more than sure that Haru didn't _hate_ Kisumi. When it came to his feelings for him it was probably closer to a feeling of annoyance than anything else. 

It wasn't like you could really blame him. Out of everyone from the small group that you were in during your first year of junior high you were probably the one that kept in touch with him the most and even you found him a bit insufferable at times.

And by times you meant almost every single time that the two of you talked to each other. There was just something about him that seemed to frustrate people and you were no exception to that. 

"Do you always have to be mean to me?" He whined. 

You scoffed as you arched a brow at him. "I'm never mean, you just take things way too seriously." You glanced over at him from the corner of your eye. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Hm?"

"I know you told me that you were picking Hayato up from practice, but it's getting pretty late, isn't it?"

The taller teen glanced at you from the corner of his eye before letting out soft laughter. His cheeks started to burn as a pale pink blush dusted his cheeks. "Well, I tried to go to your place but you weren't home and..."

His voice slowly got softer and softer until he finally came to a stop as he began to think about his less than... let's just say, favourable interaction with the older [L/N] sibling. 

It wasn't too surprising how everything went down considering the fact that it has gone down the same as every interaction between the two has gone. It shouldn't really be all that surprising to learn that Shintaro wasn't exactly the biggest fan of Kisumi, not in the slightest. 

You let out a sigh as a wave of embarrassment washed over you. Even when you weren't around he couldn't help but embarrass you, it was almost as if he couldn't help it. 

"Sorry about that," you apologized, not even being able to glance at Kisumi from the corner of your eye. You could already feel your face start to burn. "We're just friends so I don't get the point of interrogating you like that."

"Maybe walking in on us kissing kinda gave him a different idea..."

"Kisumi!"

He jumped at you as he looked at you with a surprised look on his face, eyes wide in shock. "What?! I was just saying that the reason he-"

Before he could get anything else out you stood up on your tiptoes as he pinched his cheeks, bringing his face down closer to yours. "And I'm telling you to stop saying stuff like that!"

You narrowed your eyes at him as you felt your cheeks start to burn even more to the point that it felt like your face was on fire. 

Just why did pretty people always have to be the type to tease the most?

Wasn't tormenting people with their pretty faces more than enough for them?

_'Ugh, I just have to be interested in annoying people, don't I?'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Conrad Veidt is an actor with one of his most well-known roles being Gwynplaine in the 1928 silent film, The Man who Laughs. His character, Gwynplaine has a permanent smile carved into his face, which is why Kenji says MC looks like she's trying to do an impression of him. 
> 
> A.N. 
> 
> Haru is a relatively calm dude but Kisumi makes him put on that Suga 93 hoodie 💀 
> 
> Kisumi is so trifling 😫 I love him but I swear he makes me want to throw hands with him so bad sometimes 😭😭 Like there's no need to be like that my dude 😭 
> 
> Also, did you guys peep that amazing self-projection in the form of MC struggling with college? 🤩 
> 
> Anyways, I want to remind everyone about the Q&A since it's been a hot minute since my last one so if you're interested in asking please comment your questions if you have any^^


	45. 𝑭𝑶𝑹𝑻𝒀 𝑻𝑾𝑶 | 𝑫𝑶𝑵'𝑻 𝑹𝑼𝑵 𝑨𝑾𝑨𝒀

_**"**_𝘾𝘼𝙉 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙅𝙐𝙎𝙏 𝘾𝙊𝙈𝙀 𝙊𝙐𝙏 𝘼𝙇𝙍𝙀𝘼𝘿𝙔**_?"_**

Your eye twitched at the sound of the voice that seemed to not be able to leave you alone for longer than five minutes. 

Annoyed, you covered your ears with your hands and shut your eyes tightly in a feeble attempt to try and block out the older [L/N]'s voice. 

Of course, it didn't work, not even in the slightest. 

It only took a few more seconds of hearing his muffled voice before you tore your hands away and rushed over through the small opening. "What is it?" You asked, clearly annoyed. 

His eye twitched despite your specific response being something that he more than less expected. "Can't you be a bit nicer? I did go out of my way to pick you up after all."

All you could do was stare blankly back at him as you held back the urge to roll your eyes at him. No matter how many times you interacted with him you were always going to be shocked that someone that you'd call "so annoying" could possibly be related to you. 

"Wha-"

A deep sigh left his lips as he buried his face in his hands. 

There wasn't really much of a point in trying to get through to you when it came to your less than... preferred behaviours you directed towards him. It wasn't like he could really do much, it's not like anything he's done has ever made you stop in the slightest. 

"Whatever," he sighed as he buried his hands into his pockets. "Can we just go home already? It's getting pretty dark, plus, don't you have school tomorrow?"

A likely excuse, you thought as you simply stared back at him with a deadpanned expression. "You just want me to come back home already because you're too lazy to order takeout and if you made food by yourself you'd burn the house down."

He flinched at your blunt wording before turning back at you, his cheeks slightly flushed. "That's not the only reason," he stammered. "I'm trying to be a responsible older bother is all."

Of course, that's what he was trying to do, it made perfect sense... to someone whose ability when it came to finding context clues was equal to that of a primary school student. 

Rolling your eyes you turned your back to him and let out a sigh. "I'll go back in a few minutes, just wa-"

Before you could even finish speaking you were interrupted by someone grabbing the back of your shirt. In less than a second you were pulled completely out of the slide. 

With wide eyes, you looked up in shock only to be severely disappointed to see your older looking back at you with a blank yet annoyed look on his face. 

You nervously laughed as you darted your eyes away in an attempt to avoid looking at him. "So, the weathers nice tonight, isn't it?"

As one would expect, he ignored you as he let you go, letting you fall to the ground with a small thud. "Can we just go already? I get that you're stressed about everything but why don't you just go through your senior crisis in your room." He looked away as his eye twitched. 

"It'd be a lot better than making all of the little kids that pass by think that the slide is haunted by a ghost."

You let out a deep sigh before standing up. "Fine, it's not like being depressed at a playground is really going to help all that much."

Despite the relationship between the two of you, it was almost impossible for you to talk to him. Well, at least it was a bit difficult to try and have a "real" conversation with him. 

It was hard for you to think about everything was going on by yourself, forget about talking to someone else about it. The fact that he tended to criticize most of the things you said (even if he didn't mean it) didn't really help matters. 

Safe to say, you didn't have much luck in having a peaceful night after that. 

* * *

"[N/N]?"

You suddenly looked up in surprise before letting out a tired sigh. "Sorry about that, I just haven't been able to really sleep all that often lately."

Well, that certainly was an excuse now was it?

Of course, it wasn't a good excuse by any means, in fact even calling it mediocre seemed to be a bit too nice. 

You of all people were dozing off during class and forgetting about things like time, not even noticing class ended until a few minutes later. Plus, the way you were looking wasn't exactly doing you any particular favours, the bags under your eyes were darker than ever before and you looked like you barely had time to change before coming to school. 

A deep sigh left your lips as you buried your head in your arms. 

It was already obvious that they knew you weren't as okay as you claimed, it wasn't like there was really much of a point in continuing to try and hide it. 

"Don't tell me it's as obvious as I think?" You asked as your voice came out muffled and frustrated. 

"Of course not," Akihito reassured you as he took a seat in front of you. "Don't be ridiculous, it was just a lucky guess."

You looked up and held back a small yawn. "Do you really mean that Aki?"

"No." He deadpanned. "I just said that because you asked me to not tell you that you were extremely obvious."

Ah, isn't that just great?

You were starting to get even more frustrated than you ever thought you could be, especially when it was so early in the morning. 

Maybe you should've just sucked it up and put a generic answer for your future plans. You were sure that if you said something simple like "I want to go to college and become a teacher." people wouldn't be so obsessed with asking you about everything all the time. 

Sure, you would've just put off your actual plans for even longer than you were already doing but at least then you'd get them off of your back. 

"Ugh... I'll never be able to figure any of this stuff out." You groaned as you banged your head against your desk not even caring about the looks you were getting from the two. 

All you really cared about was getting everything out of the way. You weren't exactly sure how you were going to really do that but you knew you wanted to deal with it. 

Of course, the way you avoided it every time you were faced with it didn't really make things much easier for you. 

Glancing back and forth between the two of you, Aki let out a deep sigh as a thin smile snaked it's way to his lips. As one would've expected, he had yet another "genius", his words not anyone else's, idea on what to do. 

Feeling eyes burning a hole into his skull, Kenji tried to turn on his heels and leave. He knew as well as anyone else what the vice-captain's intentions were and he definitely didn't want anything to do with. 

It's really a shame that he had little to no choice in the matter. 

Before he could even take one step towards the door a hand wrapped itself around his wrist and pulled him back as he recited a few words that weren't exactly family-friendly. 

His eye twitched as he slowly turned his head to looked at the taller teen. 

There were no words to describe the look that he was giving him. It was somewhat of a combination of annoyance, disappointment, and something that he couldn't describe. 

And just like that, the two began something of a staring contest that didn't last long before he gave up. Hanging his head as he relinquished any control over the situation, though it wasn't as if he had much to begin with. 

"[N/N], I have an idea!" Akihito suddenly said causing you to look up in surprise.

"Does it involve planning me faking my death and smuggling myself in a freighter to another continent?" You asked in a tired voice.

"Uh... No...?" He answered as he tilted his head to the side in confusion. 

It was nice to know that even when you were tired and stressed out from avoiding talking about your future you still were... as creative as usual. If everything was going wrong, at least he could count on you for having interesting ideas to say the least.

You let out a deep groan as you buried your face in your hands. "Then I don't want it." You said, your voice muffled as you let your head fall back into your arms.

Despite your less than positive response, Akihito had no plans to give up so soon, not when he was so close to getting the results that he wanted. Even if the people that were involved in his plans weren't interested in what he was thinking in the slightest. 

"Well," Kenji sighed. "Looks like I should get going-"

Not even waiting a single second more Akihito stepped on the brunette's foot with as much force as possible without looking too obvious. 

"Ow-"

Swinging an arm over his shoulder and pulling him close the black-haired teen flashed you a carefree smile. "**What Kenji means to say** is that the two of you should get going without me."

You blinked slowly as Kenji simply gave him an incredulous look with a little bit more than a hint of not so surprising "betrayal" as he put it. 

Feeling your eyes on him, Kenji took a deep breath, shooting the taller teen an annoyed glare before turning back to you with a small smile. "It'll be nice for you to get some fresh air, maybe that'll 'de-stress' you or whatever you call it."

It wasn't exactly the most well thought out idea considering the fact that he came up with it in only a few seconds but it was better than nothing. Plus, it was something that you did need. The only time you ever went out was when you were going to and from school, work, and the store. 

Other than that you stayed in most of the time. Of course, that probably had little to do with how stressed you were but there was still a chance of it working, right?

Looking him up and down you let out a sigh as you got up. 

There was no harm in trying, right?

"It's not like I really have anything else to do..."

* * *

Plopping down onto the bench you turned your head up to the sky as you tilted your head to the side. You squinted your eyes as thought about what just happened. 

"Is it just me or did Aki wolf whistle when we were leaving?" You asked without turning to look at the brunette. 

You could've sworn you heard something like that but before you could look back Kenji quickly pushed out of the room and before you knew it you were already outside. 

Kenji flinched at your words before letting out nervous laughter. "What are you talking about?" He asked, his voice cracking all the while. "It was probably just the wind."

That was, of course, a lie and a terrible one at that but it wasn't as if you were going to notice anything. Not with how deep into your thoughts you really were. 

He let out a sigh as he moved, taking a seat next too you. "Look, I'm not going to give you any advice because I'm not sure what I'm going to do myself but you shouldn't pressure yourself to come up with what you're going to do. It's not like you have to sign up for a career the moment you graduate."

You blinked slowly. 

"Is there something wrong?" He asked. "I get that it sounds cheesy but-"

"That actually sounded smart even when it's coming from you of all people."

His eye twitched. "I'm being nice and that's what you have to say?!" He asked in annoyance as he narrowed his eyes at you. "It's like you're programmed to insult nice people."

You stared at him blankly. "Did you just describe yourself as a nice person? Because if you are then I'm really questioning the way you view things."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I'm just saying if you think you of all people think you're nice then I'm dubious of what you think is bad." You said in a monotone voice as you stood up. "And can you really blame me?"

Well, he had to admit that it was oddly comforting that even when you were stressed to the point of falling asleep during class you were still... honest as ever. 

"Ugh, whatever," he sighed as he got up, burying his hands in his pockets. "Let's just get going already."

You blinked slowly before a teasing grin snaked it's way to your lips. "Are you really desperate to walk home with me?" You asked. "If that's the case, I can't really blame you-"

Like every single attempt at teasing the brunette, it ended in failure as you were interrupted by him. This time you were interrupted by him throwing your bag at your face. 

"Ow!" You yelped as you immediately whipped your head up to look at him. Narrowing your eyes, you shot a sharp glare at him. "You didn't have to do that."

"Actually, I think I did."

The next few minutes consisted of the two of you arguing with each other and flinging less than serious insults back and forth between the two of you.

It was obvious to the brunette that there was something that you wanted to say. You were being a bit more gloomy than you've been lately. 

Anyone with functioning eyes would be able to tell, your attempts to try and hide it didn't go nearly as well as he was sure you would've hoped. He let out a soft sigh as his arms dropped to his side. "Alright..."

You looked up with wide eyes. "Huh?"

The confused look on your face was more than enough to make him roll his eyes. "What do you want to say? It's obvious that you have something on your mind."

You opened your mouth to say something but were interrupted before you could even get a single word out. "-And don't even try to make up some excuses because I already know there's something wrong."

A disappointed look made it's way to your face as he finished. He shut you down before you could even try to give him excuses that you thought up on the spot. 

You almost forgot how frustrating it was just talking to him. It wasn't even due to his attitude (though that was a factor), it was more due to the fact that he knew when you wanted to say something but couldn't say it on your own. You were hoping you would be able to hide your nervousness from him but it was clear to you that you were sorely mistaken. 

For a few seconds, you tried to avoid saying anything that would've dug you a deeper grave. Unfortunately, it was nearly impossible to avoid answering Kenji when he pointed things out to you. 

Letting out a deep sigh, you glanced up at the sky before looking back at him from the corner of your eye. "What would you do if started to change the way you saw someone?" You asked. 

You could feel your cheeks start to burn. 

A deep silence fell over the two of you the moment you said those words. Blood rushed to your cheeks as you could feel his eyes on you. 

Despite wanting to look back, your embarrassment held you back from glancing back at the brunette, it was as if you were being forced to look away from him. 

The only thing was keeping you from dying was probably the fact that you already said it. It wasn't like you had much to lose, after all, what did you have to deal with?

Kenji making more jokes about you being awkward?

If you weren't just one breath away from fainting you would've scoffed at that thought. You couldn't count how many jokes you've heard him crack about how you tended to be less than smooth in conversations. 

You held back a sigh as you looked down at your feet. Despite your thoughts, you were really hoping to get some advice from him, even if they were just laced with insults towards you. 

"Well?" You asked as you finally gathered enough courage to look at him. "Are you going to say something or are you just going to wait until we die from the silence?"

The brunette cleared his throat as he let out a small laugh. "So, you're being all awkward because you don't know how romance works, huh?" 

Your eye twitched. 

It seemed to be impossible but somehow he managed to get you annoyed with him within only the first few seconds of him talking. Just a few minutes ago you were desperate for him to talk but now you just wanted him to shut up. 

"Y'know? I'm starting to wonder why I even ask you for advice sometimes."

"Me too, I really don't get why you come to me when you're worried about you sad love life."

You flinched at his words. 

He definitely didn't hesitate to tear the bandage off, you didn't expect him to be that... blunt to say the least. At least now you didn't have to worry about him making any more comments you weren't prepared for. 

"Is it really necessary to be so rude about it?" You asked as you gave him an annoyed look. 

"Of course it is, if I'm not blunt about it then it's never going to get through to you."

Your eye twitched at his words. He was right but that didn't mean it wasn't still annoying to hear him talk with the less than pleasant phrasing in his words. 

"But seriously," he said as you looked up at him. "I know I've said this a million times but you shouldn't worry about it too much, all that's going to do is stress you out more and probably ruin your chances of having a mediocre love life."

"I'm not sure if I'm supposed to thanks or just feel insulted you just called it a mediocre love life."

Despite your words what he said did help, far more than you thought they ever would. It wasn't as if his words haven't ever helped you out, it'd be a lie if you said that. 

It was just different this time.

This time you couldn't help but feel flustered in a sense at his answer though you wouldn't ever show it or say it out loud. You didn't even want to imagine what he'd say to you for getting flustered from something he of all people said.

You let out a soft sigh as a small smile curled onto your lips. You took one last glance back at the taller teen from the corner of your eye. "Well, even if you are kind of an ass with the way you say things... Thanks for making me feel better."

And with that, the rest of the walk home was filled with surprising silence as you waited in anticipation for a smart remark only for nothing to come. 

It probably wasn't anything too important to note, but you could've sworn you felt your hand brush up against his and strangely enough, you were mad at it. 

* * *

"Sousuke! Guess what!"

"What?" He asked as leaned his back up against the wall, a small smile making it's way to your lips. 

You were going to call him yesterday but you couldn't help yourself and before you knew it you were already on the phone with him. 

"I finally picked out what school I'm going to! Isn't that exciting?"

A moment of silence passed by as you waited for a response from him on the other side. You blinked slowly as you tilted your head, looking down at your hands with concern in your eyes. "Sousuke? Is there something wrong?"

He didn't know what to say. 

Sure, he wanted you to know what you were going to do but knowing that you already had plans left him with a feeling that he couldn't explain. 

All he could say was that he felt like he was being left behind, everyone around him seemed to be moving on to do better things while he stayed where he was. He sighed. 

"It's nothing," he sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm just surprised that you settled down with a school already, I thought it would take a lot longer with how stressed you've been."

He wasn't lying but he definitely wasn't telling the full truth. It wasn't like he could just bring everything down by saying he was worried about everything. 

"But enough about me, what school did you choose?"

The least he could do was at least listen to you talk about everything. That was probably one of the only things that could've put a smile on his face. 

Nothing that was on his mind on his moment definitely wouldn't have been able to do that.

It looked like while things were going well for you, it didn't seem to be the case for certain people. Though it wasn't as if you would ever know that, not as long as he could help it. 


	46. 𝑭𝑶𝑹𝑻𝒀 𝑻𝑯𝑹𝑬𝑬 | 𝑭𝑼𝑻𝑼𝑹𝑬 𝑫𝑬𝑪𝑰𝑺𝑰𝑶𝑵𝑺...

𝙏𝙊 𝙎𝘼𝙔 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙒𝙀𝙍𝙀 𝙍𝙀𝙇𝙄𝙀𝙑𝙀𝘿 𝙒𝘼𝙎 𝘼𝙉 𝙐𝙉𝘿𝙀𝙍𝙎𝙏𝘼𝙏𝙀𝙈𝙀𝙉𝙏.

You were more relieved than you could possibly say. In fact, you weren't even completely sure there were words to describe how relieved you were. 

After worrying so much about your future after high school you thought you'd never you'd be able to figure things out. Of course, you weren't completely sure about everything. 

You still had concerns about certain things and not without good reason but now you stopped worrying about unnecessary things. 

"Uh... [Y/N]-senpai?"

Blinking slowly, you turned your head and looked up at the younger girl who was looking at you with a confused look on her face. 

"Is there something wrong FumiFumi?" You asked as you tilted your head to the side. 

The younger girl's eye twitched as she tried to fake a smile that appeared to look more forced than she intended it to. "Do you really have to call me that?"

"Of course!" You said as you flashed the first-year a smile.

The lack of hesitation in your response left the black-haired teen in a state of confusion that she couldn't describe with any words that she knew. A sigh left her looks as she looked back at you. "Anyway, is there a reason why you're so... energetic today?"

It was certainly a change in pace in your behaviour, especially considering the way you've been less than positive in the last few weeks. "No reason, I've just been in a good mood recently," you hummed as you rocked back and forth on your heels. 

She didn't want you to be stressed out or anything like that but she had to admit that your 180 was a bit concerning. After all, most people don't go from looking like they've only got five minutes of sleep in an entire month to looking like they were living off sugar. 

"Whatever..." She sighed as she dropped your head. 

At least she didn't have to deal with you acting so moppy anymore, that was definitely a plus for her. Even if that meant she had to deal with you being happy to the point it was making her eyes hurt. 

"So, what's got you so excited?"

Your smile dropped as you felt your eye twitched and shoulders drop. 

Without looking over your shoulder you said to the taller teen: "And now my good mood is completely gone." 

A sigh left your lips as you turned on your heels and looked up at the brunette. "It's amazing how quickly my mood goes down whenever I hear your voice," you said as you looked up at him with a blank look on your face. 

His eye twitched as he tried his best to keep a smile on his face. "Oh, is that so?"

"If it wasn't I wouldn't be saying it."

For some reason it felt as if you were different today, it felt like you were less blunt and more just rude for the sake of it. "I remember when you used to be nice," he sighed out as he looked down with a disappointed look on his face. "It's sad how the good things in life disappear when you're older."

"What is that supposed to mean about me now?!"

"It means exactly what it sounds like."

As the two of you began to argue, just as you've always done during practice and just most of the time the younger teen watched you with a confused look her face. 

It was something that while "commonplace" as she soon realized, was still something that she still couldn't get used to. It might've just had to do with her "accidentally" overhearing the brunette's "scheming session" with the vice-captain. 

Hearing someone talk about how to ask someone out and then seeing them argue like there was no tomorrow was certainly something she needed to get used to. 

She let out a sigh as she dropped her head. "Aren't you a little too old to be using arguments as a flirting mechanism?" She mumbled under her breath. 

**"We are not flirting!"** The two of you yelled in unison as you momentarily turned your heads to the first year. 

The two of you coming together in an attempt (that really only made it seem even more believable) to deny the idea of flirting with each other only later for a few seconds. Not even five seconds passed before the two of you returned back to your argument. 

Of course, that is if you can even call what the two of you were having an argument. 

At most, the two of you were throwing less than offensive insults. You could probably find toddlers that we're able to throw around better insults than the two high school students. 

"Just ignore them Fumiya, they're both just idiots," Akihito said as he walked up to the first year, giving her a small smile as he glanced back at the two of you from the corner of his eye. "They're always like that, you'll get used to it soon enough. Don't worry about it."

And almost as if you two agreed to it, in mere perfect unison you and Kenji whipped your heads around as you shot a glare at the black-haired vice-captain. "Shut it, Aki!"

"Easy there you two," he nervously laughed as he raised his hands in defence. "I'm just telling her not to worry, after all, it happens all the time so she should start getting used to it, right?"

"..." The two of you stayed silent as you stared back at him. 

You blinked slowly as you only gave him a blank stare that seemed to burn holes into the dark-haired teen as he could only look away from you.

"Just so y'know, that isn't as reassuring as you think it is."

* * *

Haru was just a difficult person to approach and almost nothing could change that for you. 

The two of you have known each other for years but even then you couldn't bring yourself to approach Haru in certain moments. 

While you were sure he wasn't doing anything intentionally, he definitely came off as intimidating whenever he was thinking. It didn't even matter what it was he was thinking about. 

He could be thinking about what he was going to have for dinner and he'd be looking like he was thinking about a decision that could mean life or death. 

You let out a sigh as you leaned into the palm of your hand, glancing over at him from the corner of your eye. "Hey, Haru," you called out to him, finally breaking the silence. "Have you decided what you're going to do after graduation?"

He froze at your words, he halted his tapping as he took a deep breath before glancing at you from the corner of his eye before quickly looking away. 

A few more moments of silence passed by before he finally spoke up. "I haven't really thought about it." He said simply as the silence quickly returned to its place. 

You blinked slowly. 

That wasn't what you were ever expecting to hear from him. Of course, it was more than in character for someone like him but you were under the impression he already had a school planned out. 

He was more than qualified to get at least one offer from a school so it wasn't like that slipped his mind. Was he serious about not thinking about it?

It was his future, after all. 

There was nothing that was more important than that. Despite how much you avoided thinking about the future, even you knew it was probably the most important thing for everyone. 

"A-Are you serious?" You asked, tripping over your words as you looked at him with wide eyes. "You haven't even thought about whether or not you're going to a private or public college?"

The disbelief in your voice was obvious, even he could tell you were taken aback by his words. He wasn't sure how he thought about it. 

For a while now, he could use the fact that you still weren't sure about anything to fall back on. But now, now he didn't have that to fall back on. 

It was a childish way of thinking but he was starting to feel like he was starting to be left behind. Moving on wasn't something he put much thought into. 

For the most part, he's stayed exactly where he was for the longest time. Now that he was taking everything into perspective and looking and everyone else he was starting to realize how far from everyone he was. 

It seemed like there next to each other but the moment he blinked and opened his eyes he found himself to be further apart than he ever thought. 

He sighed as he leaned back into his hand and looked out the window. 

Everyone had their plans together, whether or not they were put together completely or were just going on foot at a time. They all knew what they were going to do. 

But he was just here not even knowing what he was going to do tomorrow. 

It was obvious to him how far he's actually been left behind even if none of them was even aware of it at the moment. He didn't even realize the distance until a little while ago. 

"Haru—"

"I should get going already," he got up before you could say anything else. "I'll talk to you later," he said as he waved over his shoulder. 

You frowned. He didn't even bother to look back at you as he left. 

* * *

"So you have no idea what to do either?"

A deep sigh left your lips as you stared into the distance with a tired look on your face. "Oh... Isn't this just great? You're useless too."

"What is that supposed to mean?!" Rin asked as he looked down at you in shock. 

Not that it really mattered what he said or what look he was giving you as you simply ignored him only burying your face in your palms. 

You really thought that Rin would've had something that would be able to help even just a little but it seems like you were poorly mistaken. 

"I really thought you'd have a bit of useful information but I was dead wrong," you said as you looked up at him. It was as if talking to him about this was just making you tired. 

Rin's eye twitched as he looked back at you. "I'm not sure why but I feel like you're kind of blaming me for this." He sighed as he sat back down. 

"So, Haru really doesn't have any plans?" He asked

You shook your head no as you continued to keep your eyes closed. Even you were still in disbelief with everything going on with him. 

Sure, Haru wasn't the best student around but he was at least decent and while he'd doze off every now and then you knew he understood everything that was going on. 

While you were sure he would never say it outright he definitely knew how important it was to decide on his future. Even if it was something as small as being where you wanted to live. 

"Ugh!" You yelled as you messed with your hair until it didn't look anything like before. "Why is he like this?! Is it so hard to even think about college?! Can't he just say whether or not he even wants to go?!"

Rin slowly turned his head to you as he gave you a judgmental look that you could only hope to ignore unless you wanted to die from embarrassment. 

A few more seconds of silence passed by before anyone decided to say anything. 

"Well, that was certainly something," Rin commented as he just looked forward. "Did you get everything out of your system or do you need to yell some more?"

"Shut up! I thought that was going to help but all that did was make me realize that nothing I ever do is going to help anyone, I should just give up already," you whined as you pulled the hood of your jacket down your face. "This is useless, Haru's never going to listen to anyone other than himself."

Rin let out a sigh as he put a hand on your head, patting your head softly as he leaned back onto a hand. "You shouldn't worry about it too much, at the end of the day, it's still Haru's future." 

A few more seconds passed by as the two of you returned to silence though this time it wasn't as awkward and tense as before. 

"Yeah, you're probably right," you replied, staring into the distance—not bother to look back at him as you could feel his eye on you.

"I'm sure he has everything under control," you mumbled under your breath, a little less confident than before and leagues less confident than Rin. 

Even though it wasn't any of your business, you couldn't help but feel nervous. You spent so much time focusing on yourself you forgot all about Haru. 

In all the time that you worried about things, Haru was there and you could tell the only reason he was able to make you feel better was that he was the same. He didn't have things planned out completely either but while you didn't have things planned due to fear of the future it wasn't the same in Haru's case. 

When it came to Haru, it was as if he didn't want to accept the changes that were happening and, whether you liked it or not, you couldn't blame him. 

"God," you sighed as you mumbled something under your breath, careful to not let Rin hear anything you. "This is a really annoying situation."

* * *

Your opinion of Kisumi Shigino switched back and forth depending on the things that he said and did. It was pretty the same for everyone else. 

Well, except for the fact that everyone else is everyone else and Kisumi Shigino is... well, he's just Kisumi Shigino. There was something about him that seemed to make you unable to have a solid opinion on him. 

The thing about him that probably made you be dubious of him most of the time probably had to do with the fact that he talked... a lot. It was to the point that it was impossible for him to keep a secret.

If he even tried to keep it a secret then it wouldn't be one for long before he spilt about it to anyone that asked or even looked at him. 

You let out a sigh as your eye twitched, narrowing them as you tilted your head up, leaning up against the wall. "I'm starting to wonder how you've managed to make it this far in life."

An offended sound could be heard on the other side, almost getting drowned out by static as he moved around. He got into a much more comfortable position as he began whining to you, a feeble attempt as he already knew you were going to ignore him. 

"Can't you be a bit nicer with your words?" He asked, feigning hurt as he looked down into his lap. "You know that I can't help it when I find stuff like that out."

You blinked slowly as you gave an unimpressed look, rolling your eyes before saying anything else. "Well, just like you can't help airing other people's dirty laundry, I can't help calling you an idiot when you are, in fact, an idiot."

He dropped his head as he let out a deep sigh. "I guess that's fair," he replied as he looked up with a bored look on his face. 

All you could do was feel the corners of your lips twitch at the nonchalant tone in his voice. His sudden changes in mood was a bit too much for you to deal with sometimes. 

"Ugh," you groaned as you dropped your head. "I have no idea what to do with you sometimes. It's almost as if you act this way just to annoy me."

"When have I ever done something to annoy you on purpose?" He asked. 

You stared down at your phone with a deadpanned expression dressing your face. You let the silence quickly fall over the conversation as you judged him in your head.

Despite your silence, it was more than enough to give the pink-haired teen the hint that you were not exactly subtly giving in [Y/N] terms. 

"Nevermind, I got the point."

You let out a sigh as you leaned back into the wall, letting a small thud echo softly through your room as you simply closed your eyes. "But seriously, does Sousuke know that you spilt the news to the Iwatobi boys?" You asked. 

For a second, you pictured the serious teen you couldn't help but laugh as you brought a hand up to your mouth, letting it muffle the last of your laughter. 

Even though you couldn't hear him, you could already see Kisumi freezing at the mere mention of Sousuke. While he hadn't seen any members from the Iwatobi Swim Team and Sousuke together, well, at least not at the same time, even he knew that they weren't on the best terms. 

Or, more accurately put, Sousuke wasn't exactly what one would call the biggest fan of anyone from the team at Iwatobi. You had told him more than enough to get that point across. 

Despite acting oblivious most of the time even he knew it wasn't a good idea to tell something like that to them. He definitely knew how Sousuke was and was in no way interested in hearing and seeing how he'd react to learning what he'd done. 

Nervously, he pulled at his hair as a stiff and awkward smile curled onto his lips—the corners of his mouth twitched as his smile threatened to fall. "Um... You wouldn't tell Sousuke that I told Haru and Makoto about his injury, right?" 

He laughed nervously, his voice cracking as he waited for a response from you only to be met with more silence.

You stared blankly into your lap as you waited for a few more seconds of his nervous rambling to past before you decided to finally say something. 

"Of course I won't," you said, the tone of your voice being cheerful—a bit too cheerful for Kisumi's taste. It was obvious that you were planning something. 

As soon as you finished you didn't say anything else, letting a deep silence hang over the two of you—the awkward air seep in even more. 

Not being able to take it anymore, Kisumi finally broke the silence. "Can you just say something already?!"

"Sure," you said in excitement. "What do you want me to say?" 

"What were you going to say?" He asked nervously, glancing to the side as he waited for your response. 

"Oh..."

He leaned forward as you let the silence hang for a few more seconds. "Oh, what?" He asked. 

"I don't know what I was going to say," you replied with a smile as you tilted your head to the side. "I had something on my mind that I was going to say but I just forgot it."

"Huh?"

All he could do was blink slowly as he processed your words. "What do you mean you don't remember what you were going to say?!" He asked in disbelief. "Did you just make me that nervous on purpose?!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," you said as you rocked side to side. "All I did was forget what I was going to say, there's nothing wrong with that, is there?"

"I—" He let out a sigh as he dropped his head. "I guess not," he finished, though the reluctance in his voice was more than enough for you to notice.

You laughed under your breath as you listened to him complain for a few more minutes. 

Even with how frustrating he was, you couldn't help but still think he was a bit cute with his reactions even if you would never admit something like that out loud. 


	47. 𝑭𝑶𝑹𝑻𝒀 𝑭𝑶𝑼𝑹 | 𝑨 𝑫𝑨𝒀 𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝑨 𝑵𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻

𝙃𝙊𝙒 𝘿𝙄𝘿 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙂𝙀𝙏 𝙄𝙉𝙏𝙊 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙎 𝙎𝙄𝙏𝙐𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 𝙄𝙉 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙁𝙄𝙍𝙎𝙏 𝙋𝙇𝘼𝘾𝙀_**?**_

You had to say, you've never felt more awkward and uncomfortable in your entire seventeen years of living than you were at the present. 

Alright, that might've been a bit too much, to say the least, but it got the point across at least.

To say you were feeling uncomfortable or awkward would be a severe understatement. The air around you was so tense that you could've sworn your mouth dried every single time you opened your mouth. 

Glancing over at the teen from the corner of your eye felt like it was a chore to do even if you did do it every few seconds. He certainly wasn't helping things. 

In fact, Rin was probably the main reason behind everything being so awkward at the moment. 

Your eye twitched as you once again glanced over at the maroon-haired swimmer from the corner of your eye. He wasn't exactly doing anything directly but he still wasn't helping left the awkward silence. 

"Is there a specific reason why you'rem glaring at me?" He asked without even bothering to look back at you. "You've been doing it for quite a while."

You looked away with a huff as you crossed your arms across your chest. "Well, I wouldn't _**have**_ to glare at you if you were polite and made things more comfortable."

"How am I being rude by not saying anything?!"

"Don't ask me! You just are!"

The two of you began to argue back and forth as you tossed blame between each other like the problem was actually more than neither of you could think of anything to say. 

If you were being completely honest, you were surprisingly grateful that two of you were arguing in the first place. That seemed to leagues better than just dealing with the unbearably awkward silence. 

You were sure that if you could stick a knife into the air it would break into a million tiny little pieces. The fact that you were able to move with the tense air around the two of you was more than surprising to you. 

"Anyways," you sighed as you drew out the 'ways'. You buried your hands into your pockets only to pull them out and stretch them above your head. "Is there a reason why we're out here in the first place?" You asked. 

It wasn't like there was really a point in the two of you even meeting in the first place. As far as you were concerned, the call came out of nowhere. 

One minute you were talking with Narumi in your hotel room and the next minute you were leaving to meet up with Rin after he called you to meet up. 

Though, if you were being honest, if you knew all you were meeting up for was to just walk around in awkward silence the entire time, then you would've just ignored his call and stay inside. 

Doing something like that might've been rude but it would've been better than just walking around in the cold while neither of you said a single thing to each other. 

You glanced back at him at the same time as he did the same. 

The two of you almost immediately looked away as you felt your cheeks start to burn, the blood rushing to your face putting aside the cold you were feeling only seconds earlier. 

For someone like Rin, he sure was bad at starting up a conversation on his own. You'd think he'd be able to say something considering the fact that **_he_** was the one that decided to call you up in the first place. 

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

That wasn't the case in the slightest, much to your dismay.

"So..." You drew out the word at you glanced back at him from the corner of your eye. "The weather's kind of nice, I guess, kinda..." 

You sighed as you dropped your head. "You know what, nevermind. It's actually a lot crappier than I thought it'd be and you not saying anything isn't really helping it that much."

He let out a deep sigh as he buried his hands into his pockets. "This is a lot more difficult than I thought it'd be," he mumbled under his breath.

You narrowed your eyes at before rolling them and looking away. "If you knew it was going to be difficult couldn't you have just texted me what you wanted to say or talk about you?" You asked. 

While your words were meant to be heard only by you it seemed to be heard as Rin shot a glare your way. "Well, I didn't think it was going to be so difficult. If I did I would've just stayed in my hotel room, it's not like coming out this late is the best thing to do."

Ugh, well that was just great. 

It was already bad enough that you were somehow convinced to leave the comfort of your warm hotel room to wait in the cold and walk-in awkward silence as the both of you waited for the other to talk. The fact that you were now standing around in the cold while you waited for Rin to say something certainly didn't help the situation in the slightest. 

At first, you were feeling awkward and a bit annoyed but now you were just starting to feel tired and frustrated. "Well," you kicked at the ground. "If neither of us is going to say anything then I might as well just get back to my room," you huffed out as you turned on your heels. 

Just before you could take another step forward you felt a hand wrap around your wrist as you were pulled back. Blinking slowly in surprise, you hesitantly tilted your head up to see Rin's face only a few inches away from yours. 

Feeling your face start to burn you simply froze as you continued to look up him. There were no words to describe the flustered embarrassment that you were feeling in the moment. 

You took a deep gulp as you felt your face continue to burn.

The fact that you felt face get warmer and warmer by the second was surprising, you'd think there would be a limit to how embarrassed you could possibly get. 

"Uh..." 

No other words would leave your mouth until you felt his hand let go off your wrist. The sound of footsteps against the concrete caught your attention as you looked back at him to see him nervously looking around. 

The moment your eyes met his he immediately looked away, tearing away from eye contact with you as roughly as you thought was possible. 

"Um," he muttered under his breath as he brought a hand to the back of his head. "Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that," he looked back at you for second before letting out a sigh. 

"Hm?" You tilted your head at him as you buried your hands into your pockets. "So just what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

After a few seconds of reluctance to answer, he finally said something that he wasn't sure what to think of. "Nothing, I forgot what I wanted to say."

Your eye twitched as you dropped your head in disappointment. "Are you serious?" You asked. "I came out here and waited for a who knows how long just to hear you say you forgot what you wanted to say?"

To say that you were disappointed would be a massive understatement. All you could think about was the warm sleep that you've missed while you were out in the cold being awkward with Rin. 

It would've been slightly better if it wasn't so awkward between the two of you from the beginning but it still would've been annoying. 

Well, there was no point in letting this frustrating situation become even more frustrating. You might as well try and get something out of it. 

"So," you looked back at the maroon-haired teen from the corner of your eye. "Is everything going alright with Sousuke? He hasn't been acting too weird, has he?"

"Not as much as he usually is." He sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair before quickly shoving them back into his pockets. "Though he's been a bit... _closed off_, more than usual that is."

"Really?" You asked. "In what way?"

You let out a sigh as you looked up at the taller teen, the disappointment in just your sigh was apparent. While you weren't too hopeful about Sousuke being completely honest with Rin you were at least hoping he would've been not nearly as... obvious you guess you could say. 

"Well, he hasn't been talking to me," he said as he looked down at the ground. "Not that him not talking to me is really something that's all out that strange."

Sure, his behaviour wasn't the strangest thing coming from him of all people but there was just something different about him lately. 

It'd be nearly impossible for him to not notice the obvious distance between the two of them. He had already known there was a bit of distance before but know it was more obvious than ever before. 

Only someone who was purposefully trying to not notice Sousuke wouldn't be able to notice who different he was acting as of recent. 

"Ugh," you groaned as you buried your face in your hands. "Why does he always have to be so difficult and dramatic? You'd think he'd figure out that the theatrics really aren't necessary after a while."

"Well, you can't really expect much from Sousuke, can you?"

"I guess not."

You glanced back at the taller teen from the corner of your eye and let out a sigh before kicking at nothing on the ground. "Well, isn't that just great?" You asked rhetorically. "Would it really be so hard for him to at least try and talk to someone instead of being all angsty?"

Well, it wasn't like it was something that you were too disappointment by. After all, it was something that you expected to come from Sousuke more than anyone else. 

You guessed that it was a bit much to expect him to change the way he acted for so long in a few weeks after you made a small suggestion. 

Shaking your head, you looked back up at Rin as you smiled weakly. "Since we got nowhere with Sousuke, why don't you just walk me back to my hotel room already?"

Despite the questioning tone in your voice, it was clear to Rin that you weren't exactly asking him to walk you back. "Why do I have to do that?" He asked in annoyance. "Can't you walk to your room yourself?"

Narrowing your eyes, you looked up at him and shot him a sharp glare. 

The offence that you were taking by his comment was far more than you ever thought was possible. "Is it really so hard for you to make my female shoujo manga heroine dreams a reality by walking me to my room?"

His eyes twitched as he looked back at you from the corner of his eye before looking you up and down. "You can be the secondary lead that gets left behind while the two leads have a romantic moment together." He said without hesitation as he looked away from you. 

"That's so mean!" You said in a huff as you looked up at him. 

And just like that, the awkward atmosphere between the two of you disappeared again like it was never even there in the first place. 

Despite the words exchanged between the two of you, the two of you managed walking back to your hotel together with Rin even managing to walk you back to your room without a single complaint. 

Well, even if neither of you got that much information about who you came together to talk about at least you got something nice out of it. Even if it was something small as just walking together in the cold as you talked back and forth about whatever small things came to mind. 

Feeling your face start to burn as blood rushed to your cheeks, you glanced up at Rin from the corner of your eye to see a deep red painting his cheeks. 

Almost immediately, Rin glanced back down at you from the corner of his eye to see you staring back at him with burning cheeks. The both of you looked away the moment you looked eyes, your face burning even more than you ever thought was possible. 

_'It's just the cold.'_

Even with the excuse that both of you came up with to explain your flustered states, neither of you couldn't help but hope that wasn't the case.

* * *

"Do you want to have lunch together or are you going to be busy with your boyfriends?"

"You are the very bane of my existence."

He blinked slowly as he looked back at you. "So..." He glanced over at the dark-haired teen at his side from the corner of his eye only to see him glaring back at him.

_'What?'_

Akihito shook his head as he narrowed his blue eyes at the brunette even more than before as he looked him up and down with a disapproving look.

_'Can you not for five minutes?'_

Ignoring his friend, the brunette looked away from him as he rolled his eyes, returning his eyes back to you. "I'll take your silence as yes to lunch."

You just stared back at him in annoyance as you kept your silence. 

"Alright, that's good to know."

The tension in the air was enough to drown in and it was more than enough to make anyone within ten feet of the two of you awkward and that was exactly how Akihito was feeling. 

All he could do was look back and forth between you and Kenji as he tried to rack his brain for something to do. Yet again, Kenji was being a complete idiot and he wasn't making things easier for him in the slightest. 

"Well!" He clapped as he stood up from the table, looking between the two of you with a smile. "That's my cue to leave, I'll talk to you guys later. I hope you have a nice lunch together!" He finished but not before clasping a hand tightly onto Kenji's shoulder. 

He leaned down as he brought his voice down to a whisper. "Don't do anything stupid or I swear that will be the last thing you'll ever do, understand me?"

"Uh, yes?" He looked back and forth between his shoulder and the dark-haired teen who seemed to be on the brink of fracturing his shoulder. 

"Great!" Akihito smiled as he slapped the brunette's back, ignoring the yelp of pain and glare that he threw his way. "Well, I've got to get going already."

You tilted your head, watching in confusion as you watched the black-haired vice captain's body become smaller and smaller into the distance until he finally disappeared. 

_'Just what was that all about?'_

Still just as confused as you were five minutes ago you blinked slowly before eventually turning back to Kenji. "Do you know what that was all about?"

"It's Aki, I'm pretty sure that's how he usually is."

"Real helpful Kenji," you sighed as you dropped your head in disappointment. "Well, it's not like I could've expected all that much coming from you of all people."

"Wow, [Y/N], I can really feel the love right there."

You rolled your eyes at his words before letting out a deep sigh. "Well, I'm sure you're not too interested in hearing anything but I'll have you know that I'm free since me and my "boyfriends" have lives outside of each other."

"Alright, alright," he said in defence as he raised his hands in front of his voice. "There's no need to get so defensive, I was just joking around," he laughed nervously. 

You just stared back at him as you crossed your arms across your chest, to say you weren't amused in the slightest would be an understatement. "Right..." You drew out. "Very funny."

To be completely honest, despite the tone of your voice you wasn't actually upset with him. That was pretty much the case most of the time he said something that annoyed. 

At most, the annoying things that he'd say would get on your nerves and even then it wouldn't last longer than a few minutes. It was just the way things were and you never questioned it but you couldn't help but feel a little different. 

Unlike most of the times before, you couldn't help but hear a bit more of a bitter tone in his voice that he appeared to try to conceal from you. You probably wouldn't have noticed it at all if it wasn't for the fact that he seemed to be acting weirdly all morning long. 

He seemed to be clingy yet distant all at the same time. 

You scratched your head at the behaviour, you definitely weren't going to try and ignore it but the idea of bringing it up to him felt way too awkward and confrontational. Plus even if you brought it up there was no guarantee that he would even admit to there being something different with him. 

If anything he'd probably just throw your accusation back at you by accusing you of acting differently than usual. It was a lose-lose situation, there was really nothing that you could do other than ignore it altogether. 

A deep sigh left your lips as you let your arms drop to your side. Things really weren't going to get any easier for you, now were they?

Well, it's not like there was really any use in dwelling on your less than perfect situation, right?

You might as well try your very best to make the most of it. After all, it's not like you've really had many if any time to be around him lately. 

There wasn't really any need in spending the time you had with him speculating and getting stuck in your own head. Plus, you were sure even if you figured out what was going on with him you'd still be back where you started. 

* * *

"Wow, you are just as boring as you are when you're with someone else. I really didn't think that was something that could actually be possible."

Things weren't going badly, it was nothing like that. It just wasn't going amazingly either, it was extraordinarily mediocre and average in every sense of the word. 

Sure, you already knew that there was something strange going on and that was most definitely going to hinder any progress but you didn't think it'd be so bad. You would've had more fun watching a snail race past a line of salt as you waited for Shintaro during a doctor's appointment. 

It took all of your nerves to try and start a conversation and even when you finally managed to say something and with a rather great conversation starter for everything that was going on. 

Considering how things were going, you can only guess what happened. 

If you guessed, he bought it and the rest of the afternoon was filled with conversation, insults, and laughter you would sorely be mistaken to an embarrassing degree. 

All he could give you were one-word answers with the occasional short sentence if you were lucky. Most of the time he simply answered with a few hums, grunts, and head movements. 

So to make things short, you were starting to reconsider why you were even friends with him in the first place as you internally screamed at the top of your hypothetical lungs in your head. 

"You certainly know how to make a guy feel all warm and fuzzy, don't you, [Y/N]?"

Without even a moment's hesitation, you rolled your eyes at him before folding your hands behind your back. "Thanks, it's my speciality."

Well, that was something. 

You were getting a bit warmer at the very least. Sure, you were feeling a bit warmer while you were submerged a 100 feet under the Atlantic ocean in an iceberg but hey, it was something. 

"Anyways, did you decide on what school you're going to?" You asked. "You were thinking about going overseas, right? Did you decide if you're going or not?"

He let out a deep sigh as he brought a hand up to the back of his head. "I'm staying in Japan, it's not like there's a lot for me overseas anyways."

You looked up at him with wide eyes in disbelief at what he said. "What do you mean there's not much overseas? Doesn't everyone who goes overseas go there because there are more opportunities there than there are here?"

To be honest, you were confused but at the same time, you were a bit relieved no matter how bad you were feeling from thinking that way. 

It confused you a bit more than you thought with how he said there wasn't anything in a place that would've given him more opportunities but at the same time, you were a bit relieved that he wasn't leaving. It sounded bad on the outside and even on the inside it sounded bad but you couldn't help it. 

You liked to think that things weren't nearly as bad as you thought they were but you couldn't. Well, at least you couldn't do that completely. 

Kenji glanced down at you from the corner of his eye. "Well, there's just a few things that I don't think I can part way with just yet, I'm sure I'd regret it if I left before I was completely ready."

"Oh..." You whispered under your breath as you looked up at the brunette in surprise. "So you really are capable of saying things that actually sound pretty deep."

His eye twitched as he looked down at you with a forced smile curled onto his lips. "Well, it's nice to know that you're still as supportive as usual."

"But seriously," you said as buried your hands in your pocket, looking up at with a surprisingly serious look on your face. "Is there something else that's keeping you in Japan?"

Despite the way that you acted most of the time, you weren't a dense idiot that never knew what was going on. To say you never noticed anything strange going on, especially between him and Akihito would be a complete lie. The only way you wouldn't notice anything would be if you outright ignored everything. 

You knew that you haven't talked to really anyone lately but that wasn't completely the reason why things seemed to be so different. There was a change that you noticed near the end of last year even if Kenji was sure you didn't even notice. 

Looking back at him from the corner of your eye, you took a deep breath and came to a sudden stop as you looked up at him. "Is there someone that's keeping you here?"

He looked back at you after much reluctance, he tried to speak but every time he opened his mouth everything he thought up to say seemed to disappear. "You could say that," he finally said as he looked away. 

"So, you do have a crush-"

"My mom would bother me every day if I just went abroad." 

Oh, well...

That definitely wasn't what you were expecting to hear from him. Sure, it was something that seemed to be likely to be partially behind his decision but you definitely thought there was something else behind it. 

Your shoulders dropped in disappointment as you looked back down to the ground. "Ugh," you sighed out. "Is that really it? I really thought it'd be a lot more interesting than that."

His eye twitched as he bent down slightly to look at you. "Are you disappointed because you want to be the reason why I'm staying?:

As soon as those words left his lips the both of you couldn't help but feel the blush rush to your cheeks. "Of course not!" You huffed out as you looked away. "I was just curious, though now that I actually think about it, you of all people staying for someone in that way did seem to be a bit too much."

To be honest, you were sure that even with the words you were saying he could tell what you really meant.

After all, it wasn't too hard to tell what you really meant when you said certain things.

Both of you would be able to say what you really meant someday but not today.


	48. 𝑭𝑶𝑹𝑻𝒀 𝑭𝑰𝑽𝑬 | 𝑨 𝑷𝑬𝑬𝑲 𝑶𝑭 𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑭𝑹𝑶𝑵𝑻𝑨𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵

𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙆𝙉𝙀𝙒 𝙒𝙃𝘼𝙏 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙒𝘼𝙉𝙏𝙀𝘿 𝙏𝙊 𝙎𝘼𝙔 𝘽𝙐𝙏 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙎𝙏𝙄𝙇𝙇 𝘾𝙊𝙐𝙇𝘿𝙉'𝙏 𝘽𝙍𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙍𝙎𝙀𝙇𝙁 𝙏𝙊 𝙇𝙀𝙏 𝙏𝙃𝙊𝙎𝙀 𝙒𝙊𝙍𝘿𝙎 𝙇𝙀𝘼𝙑𝙀 𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙍 𝙇𝙄𝙋𝙎.

Whenever you tried to say anything your mouth would dry up and something else would leave your lips. It was usually something extremely dull especially in comparison to what you would've prefered to say. 

"This sucks," you mumbled under your breath as you looked to the side. 

After spending the entire day with Haru and trying to bring up the subject of the future up nothing including the subject has even come up. Nothing close to it would come up, it was almost sad how desperate you were starting to get at this point. 

But even with that, you weren't going to give up anytime soon, even if you did want to just stop and drop the subject already. If no one brought it up then Haru would just ignore it for as long as he possibly could, you knew that much.

Maybe it wasn't the best idea or even a decent idea to try and talk to Haru about his future plans but it was something that you were more sure that he was ignoring. You were more than confident in your ability to tell when someone was trying to ignore something that they had to confront. 

You ran your fingers through your hair, all you were doing was making things even more stressful for you. Before the beginning of the year you promised yourself you'd focus on yourself so you wouldn't be so stressed but here you were stressing yourself out over someone else. 

Just thinking about the promise you made to yourself near the end of the last year was making you cringe. You didn't think you'd break it, you thought for once you'd be able to listen to yourself and not do anything stupid but that seemed to be impossible with you. 

"Are you okay?"

You jumped as you yelped before throwing your hands over your mouth. Flustered, you looked over your shoulder to see Haru staring back at you. "Oh," you said in relief as you grabbed the front of your shirt. "It's just you Haru."

"Who else would it be?" He asked. 

He probably already knew what you were trying to do and that only made things even more difficult. He kept getting you even more embarrassed than you thought was even possible, making it nearly impossible for you to do anything without getting nervous. 

Tilting his head to the side, he let out a soft sigh before burying a hand in his pocket. "Is there something you wanted to ask me or something like that?"

You flinched at his word as you immediately looking away, making things look even worse for you. For someone who tended to ignore almost everyone and everything, he was a bit more perceptive than he seemed. 

Despite wanting him to talk more you were starting to regret that idea now that he was pointing everything out. 

"Don't be ridiculous!" You reassured him with a smile as you hid your hands behind your back. "I was just curious about how you're feeling since-"

"Since you dragged me out of my hotel room first thing in the morning?"

Your eye twitched. 

He certainly was making things any easier for you that was for sure. Well, it wasn't like you were really expecting much from him of all people. 

A sigh left your lips before letting your smile return to your face as you waved your hands in front of your face. "Since you've been a lot quieter than you usually are."

He stared back at you for a few agonizing seconds before letting his eye fall to the ground as he let out a soft sigh. "Alright, if you say so."

That was a decent excuse, sure, it was probably not believable to Haru in the slightest but it was enough to keep him from prodding on for a few more minutes. 

You finally let out a sigh you were holding back as you watched him turn away, giving him a small wave as you let him walk ahead of you. 

"Crap, this is going just as bad as I thought it would," you groaned as you let your shoulders fall, letting your hands fall to your sides. "Why is he always so difficult?"

It was almost as if he was trying to make things difficult for you and everyone else. Though it wasn't like it was anything too surprising and if you were being completely honest, you should've been more accustomed to his behaviour more than anyone. 

Just as you were going take a step forward you couldn't but take a step back as you looked over your shoulder. You narrowed your eyes as you spied at the scene behind you. 

"That's odd," you muttered as you buried a hand in your pocket. "I could've sworn that someone was there, I thought I heard someone say my name."

Shaking your head, you turned on your heels and made your way to Haru. Whatever it was that caught your attention seemed to be gone now, if it even was there in the first place. 

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side, three sets of eyes watched as you caught up with Haru as the two of you went on with your day "uninterrupted". 

The three didn't waste any time as they let their menus fall from in front of their faces as they stood up in a hurry. 

"Do we really have to keep doing this?" Makoto asked as he looked back at the shrinking figures of you and Haru to Nagisa who seemed to be a bit more intense about the situation than he really should've.

"Of course we have to!" Nagisa exclaimed as he looked back at Makoto with a fire in his eye for some apparent reason. "Aren't you the one who suggested it in the first place Mako?"

Makoto flinched slightly as he turned away, feeling his face start to burn at the memory. "I never said that! I just mentioned that [Y/N] invited Haru out for the day!"

He never thought this would be the result from bringing up the exchange he overheard go on between the two of you. It was just something that seemed interesting. If he knew that he would get dragged around all day by Nagisa he would've just kept his mouth shut. 

A deep sigh caught the attention of the two as they looked over at Rei who seemed just a bit tired of the situation. "I'm pretty sure nothing's going to happen," he said as he felt his eye twitch. "Can we go back now?"

"But weren't you for spying?" Nagisa pouted as he turned away from the two. "It's not like you were really against this in the first place."

The dark-haired teen stiffened before turning away as he pushed his glasses up. "Whether I agreed to it in the beginning or not doesn't matter."

"Well—"

Nagisa stopped midsentence as he looked up to see the two of you long gone. He looked all around but there was no trace of the two of you to be seen. 

It seemed as if while the three of them were having a discussion regarding the ethics of what they were doing you left. Not that you were really aware of that fact since, surprisingly enough, you weren't able to notice them the entire time that they were falling you and Haru around. 

Makoto let out a sigh of relief. 

At least this meant that he didn't need to be dragged around by Nagisa for the rest of the day and tail you. "This means we can just give up and go home now, right?"

"Of course not!"

**"What?!"** Makoto and Rei said in unison as they looked at the shorter teen in shock. 

Though, considering the person they were talking about they really shouldn't have been all too shocked with his words. It did seem far too much in character to really think about. 

"What do you mean by no?" Rei asked in confusion, though the tone of his voice made him seem far more terrified than he really should've been. 

"I mean we've come so far that I'd be useless to give up now."

"All I want to do is go home already," Makoto groaned as he buried his face in his hands. "That would've been way better than doing this," he muttered to himself.

That was what he wanted to do, but knowing Nagisa there was no way that he was going to be able to go home, at least not anytime soon. 

"Why did I have to bring it up in the first place?"

* * *

"I have a perfect plan, it's completely full proof!"

The two college students couldn't help but blink slowly at you, looking you up and down with judging stares before glancing back at each other from the corner of their eyes. 

You let the silence hang over your conversation as you waited for their response only to get nothing from the two. The blank stares were more than enough to tell you what they were thinking. 

"Can you at least say something?!" You asked, finally breaking the silence. "I know what you guys want to say but it's way too awkward to just have you stare!"

Rina gave a small smirk as she leaned into the palm of her hand. "What's the point of us talking if you already know what we want to say?" She asked. 

The burgundy-haired waiter looked you up and down before finally looking away from you as he muttered something under his breath. "You might actually be more of a masochist than I thought you were..."

Your eye twitched at his words. "Will you just shut your dumb face?"

"But you just told me to say what I want to say...?" He said in confusion as he glanced back at the brunette from the corner of his eye in confusion. 

All he got was a shake of her head in response before letting off a sigh of exasperation. "Whatever..."

Clearing your throat, you clapped your hands together as you tilted your head to the side as you smiled. "Anyways, let's get back to business. Shall we?"

"Of course," Rina replied as she gave a nervous smile. "So, what is your plan for getting Sousuke to talk to you? It must be a good one since he's basically been ignoring you for a week now."

You laughed smugly under your breath as your lips curled up into a proud smirk. Your terrific—in your eyes—idea was all you could think about.

"Well," you sang as you rocked back and forth on your heels. "Since you asked so nice **_unlike a certain someone_** I'll gladly tell you."

You glanced back at the waiter, narrowing your eyes at him for a split second before turning towards the brunette with a smile on your face. "My plan is simple really, all I'm going to do is head over to Samezuka and force him to talk to me!" 

The two looked at you with blank expressions on their faces. They couldn't help but arch a brow at your words as they switched their gaze from you to each other as they glanced at each other from the corner of their and back to you again. 

Not knowing exactly what to say or do they sighed in unison. 

Your idea was certainly... an idea, that was something that they could agree about. Whether or not they thought it was nearly as brilliant as you did was still up for debate. 

Despite their different ideas regarding it, they could definitely confirm that it was an [Y/N] idea. That was something that more than obvious. 

"W-What's the problem?" You asked in surprise as you back and forth between the two. Their less than impressed looks leaving you confused. 

"No offence but that's a pretty dumb idea."

"Huh?"

"Talk about anticlimatic," Daichi muttered as he looked off to the side. 

You narrowed your eyes at them as you crossed your arms over your chest before looking away from them in annoyance. "Fine, say whatever you want. I know my plan is going to work and you guys are going to eat your words."

* * *

Maybe it would've been a better idea if you waited the next day to try and find Sousuke. 

That would've been a much better idea than following the Samezuka student and nearly dying from exhaustion as you tried to keep up with him. 

You thought that it would've been a lot easier than how things were going so far. You didn't really expect him to be running for so long even with how late it was starting to get. 

A sigh left your lips as you leaned against the wall in an attempt to catch your breath. It almost seemed like time was starting to go far slower than you were it was going. 

"He's been doing this for an hour already," you mumbled. "Can't he just stop already? Does he even get tired?"

You narrowed your eyes, but considering how tired you were it seemed more like you were starting to close your eyes. You waited for a few seconds to pass before pushing off the wall as you took a deep breath. 

Despite how tired you were of following him around you were even more tired of waiting around. There was no way you were going to wait around for any longer.

Sousuke was about to take a step further but before he could do so he was stopped in his steps as you ran up behind him, slowing down only a few feet behind him. 

_'Crap, I'm way too out of shape for this...'_

"[Y/N]?" He said, confused as he looked at you from over his shoulder. "What are you doing here?" He asked in confusion, not that you could really blame him. 

It wasn't like you were really looking that "normal" to say the least. You were completely out of breath, pale, or in more simple terms: you looked like you were on the brink of death. 

"I am here to finally talk to you!" You shouted, causing the taller teen to be even more shocked than he already was. 

"And you couldn't just call me?"

Your eyes twitched at his words. It was as if he wasn't even aware of the fact of how ridiculous something like that sounded coming from him of all people. 

If you could just call him up to talk to him then you would've without question. Why wouldn't you want to stay home and talk to him instead of going on a 30-minute run to find him?

The only reason you even came to talk to him face to face was due to the fact that he was ghosting you. If that wasn't the case you would've never even bothered. 

"As if I could do that and get a response..." You muttered to yourself. 

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" You quickly replied as you stood up straight and looked up at Sousuke with an annoyed look on your face. "I'm here because you've been acting like the same idiot you've always been but you're being even more angsty than usual." 

He flinched slightly at your words before looking off to the side. The irritation was obvious on his face, "Just how am I being more 'angsty than usual'." He finished with finger quotations. 

At this point you were starting to believe that he just playing dumb, there was no way that he was actually being serious. Not with everything that has happened so far. 

You looked him up and down with a blank expression as you repeated his words in your head, still not quite believe he was being completely genuine.

All you could do was let out a deep sigh as you dropped your head while keeping your eyes focused on the ground all the while. 

"Whatever," you muttered under your breath. "If that's what you _think_ then I guess I can really change it." 

You quickly looked away as you muttered something else under your breath, careful to not let him hear you. "Even if you are just being delusional at this point."

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" You popped as you stood up straight and flashed him a small smile. "Anyway, I just wanted to talk to you since we haven't talked to each other in a while!"

His shoulders drooped as he looked away with a tired look. It was obvious by your voice that you weren't really expecting an actual answer from him. "Do I really have a choice?"

"Of course not!" You sang. 

There was no way you were going to let him choose whether or not he had to talk to you or not. You knew as well as anyone else that he would've used an opportunity like that to just leave you frustrated. 

"Whatever you say ma'am." 

Despite his words, you could that he was more than reluctant in talking to you. While you weren't exactly confident in the reasoning behind it, you knew that you weren't the entire reason he was quiet. At least, you didn't hope that was the entire reason. 

Running your fingers through your hair as slow as the time passing by you rocked back and forth on the heels of your feet. "So, are you going to tell me why you've been ignoring me recently?"

If you were being honest, you didn't **want** to be as blunt as you were but it wasn't like you had many options. It was either be straight forward and possibly get no answers or be vague and get him dodging the subject once again. 

Of course, you didn't want him to continue ignoring you (even if he never admitted it) but at the same time at least if he ignored you after being straight forward you'd know that at least he knew he was ghosting you. 

Sousuke let out a sigh as he looked away, it was impossible to avoid you no matter how hard he tried. It was a long shot to try and ignore you, the fact that he was able to for so long surprised him. 

Despite managing to avoid you for so long he was sure that you would've been able to do something sooner rather than later. 

He expected it but he hoped that he could've lasted just a little while longer. 

Of course, he probably wouldn't have been able to come up with a decent excuse for ghosting you if he was given enough time but at least he'd be able to dodge your questions for a little while longer. 

If he wanted to continue to avoid the subject or get you to drop it entirely he could always bring up how being pushy caused what happened last time. 

He sighed. 

Even he knew that was a low blow to make, things were already looking pretty bad. If he said something like that to you of all people he was sure that leave the two of you where you left off before. 

"You know I don't care if you bring up what happened last time," you cut in as you looked away in frustration. You could tell that was what kept him quiet.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure something like that out. Sousuke was a terrible liar when it came down to it, whenever he was thinking of an excuse he'd go as quiet as a mouse and that still hadn't changed. 

The taller teen couldn't even hide his surprise from as his shoulders stiffened, his eyes widening for only a split second. He wasn't exactly surprised at your words but more at the mention of it from you of all people. 

You let out a sigh. 

It was obvious that your words hit the mark even if that wasn't what you meant originally. Well, at least knew one of the reasons for the ghosting even though you were more than sure that was just scratching the surface. 

You gave one last shake of your head before clasping your hands together and looking up at him. The serious look on your face was more than enough to take him out of his thoughts. 

"Look, you're a complete idiot and you seem to constantly hurt people whether intentionally or not."

"Hey, did you just come here to tell me the obvious and make me feel worse about myself or—"

You continued on as you ignored the teal-eyed teen's comments. "—but even with that, I hope you remember that nobody really hates you and I miss you."

Things went silent between the two of you. 

Neither of you said a single word to each other as you both looked away, eyes being pulled to the floor as you tried to think of something say. All you could do was draw blanks as you thought up as many ideas as humanly possible in the little time that you had.

"Ow! Just what do ya think you're doin', you idiot!" You cried out. 

Apparently, Sousuke decided the perfect way to the get rid of the silence and tension between the two of you was to simply pinch your cheeks without so much as a warning. "Aw, you sound adorable trying to talk right now. What are you even trying to do by trying to act so serious like that? It's impossible to take you serious with a face like yours," he chuckled before finally letting go. 

"Excuse me! I was being extremely serious! You're the one that ruined the entire vibe that I was trying to set up!" You complained as you grabbed your cheeks with a glare. "And what do you mean by 'a face line mines'?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he apologized half-jokingly as he looked back at you for a second. "It's just that you looking so serious with a cute face makes you look more angry chihuahua that just got a bath."

"Huh?!" You felt your cheeks start to burn at his words. "Why do you always have to say things like that?! It makes it impossible for me to stay mad at you!" You started to complain to him as you looked down as you only spewed out more complaints. 

You looked away from the taller teen, your cheeks burning a deep hue as you felt your cheeks getting hotter by the second. No matter how long things between the two of you it seemed like he would always get you flustered without fail. "Can't you let me get upset without making jokes?" 

He tilted his head slightly as he looked you up and down with a confused look on his face. "Making jokes? I'm not joking but if I'm being honest it's hard to take you seriously when you get upset."

"Wha-" You gawked at the taller teen. "Just what is that supposed to mean?"

Sousuke looked you up and down once more before the corners of his lips curled up slightly into a smirk. Leaning down slightly he let out a soft laugh, "I'm just saying that you look more cute than anything else when you get upset and it's distracting."

At that moment you felt your face explode, you could swear that your face was on fire at that point. It was more than enough to make you turn away from him completely. "Whatever," you huffed out as you crossed your arms over your chest. "Just try not to be too much of an idiot, you're making people worry."

He blinked slowly before letting out another soft laugh. "Alright, I'll try my best."


End file.
